{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_15874/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_15874","id":"gutenberg_15874","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15874","summary":null,"tags":["Apocryphal books (Old Testament) -- Juvenile literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Jewish legends -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"OLD TESTAMENT LEGENDS\n      BEING STORIES OUT OF SOME OF THE LESS-KNOWN APOCRYPHAL BOOKS\n                          OF THE OLD TESTAMENT\n                                   BY\n                          M. R. JAMES, LITT.D.\n                  PROVOST OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE\n\n                       WITH TEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY\n                               H. J. FORD\n                        LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.\n                       39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON\n                     NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA\n                                  1913\n                          All rights reserved\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nIf you read the title-page of this book--a thing which young persons\nvery seldom do--you will see that it (the book) contains stories\ntaken \"out of some of the less-known apocryphal books of the Old\nTestament.\" You will very possibly not understand what that means;\nbut if you will read this preface--another thing which young persons\ndo even seldomer than they read a title-page--you will find the best\nexplanation that I can give.\n\nI have to begin by talking about the word apocryphal. The newspapers\nare fond of saying that a statement made by the Prime Minister (or\nthe leader of the Opposition, according to which side in politics the\nnewspaper takes) is apocryphal. By this, the newspaper means to say\nthat the statement was untrue. Or, you will read that someone\nobtained money or goods by saying that he possessed large estates\nabroad; and that the estates turned out to be apocryphal. By this is\nmeant that they did not exist. But when you read of a book being\napocryphal, something rather different is meant: either that it is\n\"spurious,\" i.e. that it pretends to be written by someone who did\nnot write it; or that what is in it is fabulous and untrue, like the\nstories of King Arthur; or both.\n\nNow this word apocryphal is specially used, and perhaps most often\nused, in connection with the Bible. Probably you have at least heard\nof something called \"the Apocrypha,\" even if you have not read it,\nand even if you have mixed it up in your mind with another word,\nApocalypse, which has nothing whatever to do with it. Well, what is\n\"the Apocrypha\"? It is to be found in many Bibles, bound up between\nthe Old and the New Testaments. It is a set of books, looking just\nlike the other books of the Bible, with chapters and verses. Some of\nit is read in church as weekday lessons in the months of October and\nNovember, as you may see by looking at the Table of Lessons in any\nPrayer Book. Now, are all these books of \"the Apocrypha\" fabulous or\nspurious? No. Some of them are. The Second Book of Esdras (that is,\nEzra) was not written by Ezra; The Book of Baruch (the companion of\nthe prophet Jeremiah) was not written by Baruch; The Wisdom of\nSolomon was not written by Solomon. These and some others are\nspurious. Also, the books of Tobit and of Judith are fabulous\nstories. On the other hand, the book Ecclesiasticus was really\nwritten by Sirach (who is mentioned in the Preface), and The First\nBook of Maccabees is a true and valuable history.\n\nThen why, if apocryphal means fabulous or spurious, or both, are\nthese books, some of which are true and genuine, lumped all together\nand called \"Apocrypha\"? I am sorry to disappoint you, but I cannot go\nthrough the whole history. It is long, it is difficult, and though it\ninterests me, I am inclined to think it would not interest you unless\nI spread it over a great many pages, and filled it out with stories;\nand for this I have no time. Let me tell you what strikes me as being\nthe important thing to bear in mind. Nearly all of these books have\nbeen at some time or another read in church and treated as Scripture.\nNearly all of them are now treated as Scripture by the Roman Church,\nbut not by most of the Protestant, or Reformed, Churches. They are on\nthe borderland of the Bible. From having been so long kept together\nin a group by themselves, they have come to be thought of as being\nall of one uniform kind. But they are not so; they are of very\ndifferent sorts and merits.\n\nLet us keep the old name for them and call them \"the Apocrypha.\" It\nwill be convenient to do so, because I have now to speak of other\napocryphal books, which have never been bound up in our Bibles, but\nin older times, before Bibles were printed, were (some of them at\nleast) read in churches and thought to be sacred books. There are a\ngreat many of these: perhaps, if they were all put together, they\nwould make up a volume as large as the Old Testament itself; but at\npresent there is no book in which they are all printed together. Some\nare stories, others are visions like those in the Revelation of St.\nJohn, others are psalms and prophecies. But all of them, I think, may\nfairly be called either fabulous or spurious, or both.\n\nI can give you an example from the Bible itself to show that there\nwere such books as long ago as the times of the Apostles, and that\nthey were read and valued. In the 9th verse of the Epistle of Jude,\nyou read something very curious about Satan contending with Michael\nabout the body of Moses. Ancient writers whom we may trust tell us\nthat this is taken from a book called The Assumption of Moses (that\nis, the story of Moses being taken up out of this world at the end of\nhis life).\n\nWe have pieces of this book still, but we have not got the whole\nstory of the dispute between Satan and Michael. However, we know that\nit was represented as having taken place when Michael and the other\nangels were burying the body of Moses among the mountains in a place\nwhich was kept secret from all men, and that Satan said that though\nthe soul of Moses might belong to God, the body belonged to him; and,\nmoreover, that Moses was a murderer, because, long before, he had\nkilled an Egyptian (as we read in Exodus ii. 12); whereupon Michael\nanswered Satan in the words, \"The Lord rebuke thee,\" and Satan fled.\nThat is one example. Another is in the 14th verse of the same\nEpistle, where it is said that Enoch, the seventh from Adam,\nprophesied of the coming of the Lord to judge sinners. This verse is\ntaken out of a long book of prophecies and visions called The Book of\nEnoch, which still exists, and we may read the very words in it.\n\nIn this present book, I am only concerned with the apocryphal\nstories; with the prophecies and visions and psalms I have nothing to\ndo. Now, how and why did the stories come to be written?\n\nIt is likely enough that after reading some history in the Bible you\nmay have wondered whether there was anything more to be known about\nthe people of whom it told you. You would have liked to find out what\nhappened to Adam, or Joseph, or David, besides the things which are\nwritten in the Bible. It was just so in ancient times --the times\nwhen our Lord was on earth, and even long before that. The Jews\nnaturally thought a great deal about the people who are mentioned in\nthe Old Testament; and just as there are a great many stories about\nthe heroes of English history--such as that of King Alfred and the\ncakes--which, we are told now, are not true, so stories grew up about\nthe great men of the Bible. Perhaps they were invented, some of them,\nin answer to questions which had been asked. Some of them were\ncertainly made up in order to explain parts of the Bible which were\ndifficult to understand. I will give an example of this. In the Book\nof Genesis (iv. 23, 24) you are told how the patriarch Lamech spoke\nto his wives and said, \"I have slain a man to my wounding, and a\nyoung man to my hurt.\" Nothing is said in explanation of this; we are\nnot told whom Lamech had killed. So a story was made up--no one knows\nwhen--which gives this explanation: Lamech was blind, and he used to\namuse himself by shooting birds and beasts with bow and arrow. When\nhe went out shooting, he used to take with him his young nephew\nTubal; and Tubal used to spy the game for him and guide his hands\nthat he might aim his arrow right. One day, when they were out\ntogether, Tubal saw, as he thought, a beast moving in the thicket;\nand he told Lamech, and made him aim at it, and Lamech's arrow smote\nthe beast and killed it. But when Tubal ran to see what kind of beast\nit was, he found that it was not a wild beast at all. It was his\nancestor Cain. For after Cain had killed Abel, and God had pronounced\na curse upon him, he wandered about the earth, never able to remain\nin one place; and a great horn grew out of his head, and his body was\ncovered with hair; so that Tubal, seeing him in the distance among\nthe trunks of the trees and the brushwood, was deceived, and mistook\nhim for a beast of chase. But when Tubal saw what had happened, he\nwas terrified, and ran back to Lamech, crying out, \"You have slain\nour forefather Cain!\" And Lamech also was struck with horror, and\nraised his hands and smote them together with a mighty blow. And in\nso doing he struck the head of Tubal with his full strength, and\nTubal fell down dead. Then Lamech returned to his house, and spoke to\nhis wives the words that are written in the Book of Genesis. This\nstory, a very ancient one, as I said, was invented by the Jews to\nexplain the difficult passage in Genesis; and the early Christian\nwriters learnt it from the Jews, and it passed into many commentaries\nwhich were written in later times; so that you may still see\nrepresentations of it carved in stone in churches, both in England\nand elsewhere. In England it may be seen on the inside of the stone\nroof of Norwich Cathedral, and on the west front of Wells Cathedral;\nbut you have to look carefully before you can find it.\n\nThere are other stories which pretend to explain texts that do not\nseem so difficult. For instance, in the 18th Psalm there is a verse,\n\"Thou hast made room enough under me for to go.\" And about this there\nis a long tale of how King David went to fight the giant Ishbi-benob,\nand was nearly killed by him; for the giant took David and cast him\nto the ground, and put a heavy wine-press upon him, which would have\ncrushed him, but that the earth beneath him suddenly became soft and\nyielded room for his body, and thus room was made under him.\n\nThen again, there are others which are like parables.\n\nAt this point I will put in two short stories of the parable-kind,\nneither of which I think you are likely to have seen. One of them is\ncertainly taken from an apocryphal book which is lost; and the other\nI suspect to have been taken either from the same book or from one\nlike it.\n\nFirst I will tell the one about the source of which I am not certain.\n\nIn the days of King Hezekiah there was in Israel a rich man who was a\nmiser and gave nothing to the poor. But one day it happened that he\ntook up the book of the proverbs of King Solomon; and his eye fell\nupon the place where it is said, \"He that hath pity upon the poor,\nlendeth unto the Lord; and look what he layeth out, it shall be paid\nhim again.\" \"So,\" thought he to himself, \"this is a good security!\"\nAnd forthwith he sold all that he had, and distributed the price\namong the poor, keeping for himself only two pieces of money. But, to\nhis disappointment, he did not only become poor himself by this\nmeans, but he remained poor. The money he had given away did not come\nback, and no one else would give him any. So he was reduced to\ndespair, and said, \"I will go straight to Jerusalem, and demand of\nGod why He has deceived me, and induced me to give away all my\npossessions by promises that are false.\" And he set forth. And on his\nway, not far from Jerusalem, he saw two men fighting, and said to\nthem, \"Brethren, what is your quarrel?\" And one said, \"We were\njourneying together, and I saw a shining stone lying in the road, and\npointed it out to this man; and because he was swifter on his feet\nthan I, he got to it first. And now he says he will keep it for\nhimself, but I say it belongs to me, for I saw it first.\" Then said\nthe traveller, \"What is the value of the stone?\" They said, \"We do\nnot know.\" And he said, \"Will you take these two pieces of money for\nit and let me have it?\" And to this they consented. So when the man\ngot to Jerusalem, he took the stone to a jeweller and showed it to\nhim; and no sooner had the jeweller seen it than he fell on his face\nand gave thanks to God. And then he said to the man, \"Where did you\nfind this? For three whole years all Jerusalem has been ransacked\nfor this stone. Go quickly to the High Priest and give it to him, and\nsee what he will give you!\" At the same hour there came an angel to\nthe High Priest, and said to him, \"Within a few moments there will\ncome to you a man bringing the gem which three years ago was lost out\nof the breastplate of Aaron the priest. Receive it at his hands, and\ngive him for it a great sum of gold; and when you have given it,\nsmite him lightly upon the cheek and say, 'Be not distrustful in thy\nheart, and slow to believe the word which says, 'He that hath pity\nupon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord.' For thus saith the Lord,\n'Have I not now in this present world repaid thee many times over that\nwhich thou didst lend to Me? And, if thou have faith, thou shalt in\nthe world to come receive a recompense yet many times greater than\nthis.'\" And when the man came, the High Priest did and said as he had\nbeen commanded; and the man's heart was moved, and he left in the\ntemple all that great sum which had been given him, and for the rest\nof his life put his whole trust in the promises of God.\n\nThe other short story is taken out of an apocryphal book under the\nname of the prophet Ezekiel, and is a parable of the soul and the\nbody of man at the day of judgment.\n\nThere was a certain king, it says, who made a marriage feast for his\neldest son, and invited all his soldiers to his palace to share it.\nNow every one of his subjects was a soldier and served in his army,\nexcept only two, one of whom was blind and the other lame; and these\ntwo were not invited to the feast, but remained in their huts--which\nwere near to one another--very angry and disappointed. After a while\nthe blind man called to the lame man, \"It is a shame that we are not\nsitting down to the feast along with the rest! I should like to treat\nthe king as ill as he has treated us.\" \"How can we?\" said the lame\nman. \"You know his garden,\" said the other; \"let us go and spoil it!\"\n\"All very well,\" said the lame man, \"but how are we to get there?\nI cannot walk.\" \"Neither can I see; but we will contrive a way.\" So\nthey devised a plan. The lame man plucked the grass that he could\nreach, and plaited it into a string, and threw one end to the blind\nman, who guided himself by it to the lame man. Then he took the lame\nman on his back, and carried him to the king's garden, and there they\ndid all the mischief they could, trampling down and tearing up plants\nand flowers; and they went back to their houses and remained there.\nWhen the rest of the people came out from the banquet into the\ngarden, they were appalled at the sight of the damage, and were much\nperplexed, saying, \"Were not all the soldiers of the king bidden to\nthe feast? and is not every man in the kingdom a soldier? Whence\nthen are these tracks in the garden, and who has wrought this\nmischief?\" After a while the king bethought him of the blind and the\nlame man; they were brought before him, and he said to the blind man,\n\"Have you been into my garden?\" He answered, \"Alas, sire! you see my\ninfirmity, and that I have no eyes wherewith to find my way!\" Then\nsaid the king to the lame man, \"And you, have you been into my garden?\"\nAnd he answered, \"Surely my lord has forgotten my infirmity; it\ncannot be that he desires to hurt my feelings by mocking me!\" So the\nking was perplexed, and went apart to consider how the two could have\ncontrived the business--for he was sure that they were guilty. At\nlast a thought came to him, and he set the lame man on the blind\nman's shoulders, and scourged them both together. Then indeed did\nthey cry out, and the lame said to the blind, \"Did you not lend me\nyour feet to take me to the king's garden?\" And the blind to the\nlame, \"Did you not lend me your eyes to show me the way?\" And in like\nmanner at the judgment the soul will say to the body, \"I could not\nhave sinned if you had not given me the limbs with which I did evil.\"\nAnd the body to the soul, \"But it was you who thought of the evil\nwhich I carried out.\" Thus one will try to throw the blame on the\nother; but is either of them free from guilt?\n\nOthers of these apocryphal books are designed to show how important\nsome special virtue, or how dangerous some particular sin, may be.\nThus, there is a book called The Testaments (or Last Words) of the\nTwelve Patriarchs, in which each of the twelve sons of Jacob, when he\ncomes to die, calls his children to him and tells them about his own\nlife, and warns them against his own besetting sin, or shows how he\nhas been helped by practising some good habit: Simeon speaks about\nenvy, Issachar about simplicity, Zebulun about kindness, and so on.\nAnd many others there are which are merely, one would say, meant to\ntell us more about the lives and deaths of the great men of the old\ntimes than we can learn from the Bible.\n\nPerhaps I have now said enough to show of what sort the tales are\nthat are told in this book--some of them told for the first time in\nEnglish. They are not true, but they are very old; some of them, I\nthink, are beautiful, and all of them seem to me interesting. In case\nanyone should wish to know more about them, I will put down here the\nnames of the books from which I have taken them.\n\nThe first part of the story of Adam is shortened from Mr. S. G.\nMalan's translation of The Book of Adam and Eve, and from Dillmann's\nGerman translation of the same (Das christliche Adambuch des\nMorgenlandes). The second part is from the Greek Revelation of Moses\n(in Tischendorf's Apocalypses Apocryphae), and from the Latin Life of\nAdam, edited by W. Meyer.\n\nThe first part of the story of Abraham is from The Apocalypse of\nAbraham, translated from Slavonic by Professor N. Bonwetsch; the\nsecond part is from The Testament of Abraham, edited by me in Texts\nand Studies.\n\nThe story of Aseneth is from the Greek History of Aseneth, edited by\nBatiffol in Studia Patristica.\n\nThe story of Job is taken from The Testament of Job in my Apocrypha\nAnecdota (ii).\n\nThat of Solomon is from The Testament of Solomon as printed by Migne\nat the end of the works of Michael Psellus.\n\nThat of Baruch from The Rest of the Words of Baruch, edited by Dr. J.\nRendel Harris.\n\nThat of Ahikar principally from the French edition by the Abbe F.\nNau, with some few touches borrowed from that by Dr. J. Rendel\nHarris.\n\nOne last word. Not all of the stories in this book are equally old.\nThe oldest is most likely that of Ahikar. Lately some pieces of it\nhave been discovered in Egypt in a very ancient copy. Next, probably,\ncomes the second part of the story of Adam. In each of the others\nthere are some parts which are derived from early Jewish tales, but\nthe books in which we have them now were put into their present shape\nby Christians. Still, there is not one that is less than fifteen\nhundred years old.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n                                                                    PAGE\nADAM                                                                   1\nTHE DEATH OF ADAM AND EVE                                             15\nABRAHAM                                                               25\nTHE STORY OF ASENETH, JOSEPH'S WIFE                                   49\nJOB                                                                   81\nSOLOMON AND THE DEMONS                                               105\nTHE STORY OF EBEDMELECH THE ETHIOPIAN, AND OF THE DEATH OF JEREMIAH  121\nAHIKAR                                                               135\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\nHOW SATAN DECEIVED EVE IN THE RIVER (see p. 10)            Frontispiece\nTHEN CAME ONE OF THE SERAPHIM AND BARE THE SOUL OF ADAM\n    TO THE LAKE OF PURE WATER IN THE GARDEN                Facing p. 22\nABRAHAM AND THE BROKEN IDOLS    \u0084                              \"      28\nASENETH DOING HOMAGE TO HER GODS               \u0084               \"      53\n\"ASENETH, RISE UP\"                                            \"      63\nASENETH FLIES IN HER CHARIOT FROM THE MEN IN AMBUSH BY THE\n    RIVER                                                     \"   \u0084   76\nSATAN DEPARTS, VANQUISHED BY JOB AT LAST       \u0084               \"      94\nJOB'S HAPPY DEATH                                             \"     102\nEPHIPPAS AND THE DEMON OF THE RED SEA BRING THE GREAT\n    PILLAR TO SOLOMON                                         \"     116\nHow AHIKAR OUTWITTED THE KING OF EGYPT                        \"     152\n\n\n\n\nOLD TESTAMENT LEGENDS\n\nADAM\n\n\nWhen Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden, they were as\nhelpless as little children. They knew nothing of day or night, heat\nor cold; they could not kindle a fire to warm themselves, nor till the\nground to grow food. They had as yet no clothes to wear and no shelter\nagainst rain or sun. As long as they were in the garden, it was always\nlight and warm, and their bodies were so fashioned that they had no\nneed of food or sleep or of protection against the burning of the sun;\nbut since they had eaten of the Tree of Knowledge, they had become like\nus. Moreover, all the beasts and birds were friendly with them; but\nnow they knew that it was not so, and that they had no defence if any\nfierce animal chose to attack them; and, more than all, they knew that\nthey had a cruel enemy lying in wait for them outside the garden, even\nSatan, who had hated them from the first, and had brought about their\nfall by means of the serpent. And so it was that when they came out of\nthe gate of the garden and saw the earth stretched out before them,\ncovered with rocks and sand, and found themselves in a strange land\nwhere there was no one to guide them, they fell down on their faces,\nand became as dead, because of the misery and sorrow which they felt.\nBut God looked upon them and sent His Word to raise them up and comfort\nthem; and showed them a place not very far from the garden where there\nwas a cave; and told them that they were to live there. Now this was\nthe cave which was afterwards called the Cave of Treasures.\n\nWhen first they entered into the cave, they did nothing but weep and\nlament: not only because they had lost the garden, but also because\nfor the first time the sky was hidden from them by the roof of the\ncave; for as yet they had never been in any place where they could\nnot see it. But when the sun set and there was darkness outside the\ncave as well as inside, they were frightened beyond measure; for they\nsaid, \"It is because of what we have done: the light is gone out of\nthe heavens, and will come back no more.\" Then the Word of God spake\nto them and said, \"Be comforted; it is only so for a few hours, and\nthe light will return to you.\" And they remained praying and weeping\nin the cave until the darkness began to grow less. After that the sun\nrose, and Adam went to the mouth of the cave, and it shone full upon\nhim, and he felt the burning heat of it on his body for the first\ntime, and thought that it was God who had come to afflict and punish\nhim; and he beat upon his breast and prayed for mercy. But God said,\n\"This sun is not God; it is created to give light to the world, and\nevery day it will rise in like manner, and travel over the heavens\nand set, as you have seen it. _I_ am God, who comforted you in the\nnight.\"\n\nThen Adam and Eve took courage, and came out of the cave, and thought\nthey would go towards the garden; and when they came near to the gate\nby which they had been driven out of it, they met the serpent. Now\nbefore it tempted Eve and became accursed, the serpent had been the\nmost beautiful of all the creatures. Its head was of all the colours\nof the most beautiful jewels; it had eyes like emeralds, and a\nmelodious voice; it had slender and graceful legs, and it fed on\nperfumed flowers and delicious fruits. Now it was loathsome to look\nupon; it wriggled on its belly in the dust, and all creatures spurned\nand hated it. And when it saw Eve it was enraged to think of the\ncurse that had come upon it through her, and it raised itself up and\ndarted at her, and its eyes became blood-red with anger. Then Adam,\nwho had nothing in his hand wherewith to defend Eve, ran and caught\nit by the tail, but it turned upon him and coiled about him and Eve\nwith its body and began to crush them; and it said, \"It is because of\nyou that I am compelled to trail in the dust and have lost my\nbeauty.\" And they cried out for fear. But God sent an angel who\ncaught hold of the serpent and loosed them, and smote the serpent\nwith dumbness, so that thereafter it could only hiss. And a great\nwind came and took it up, and cast it away upon the seashore of\nIndia.\n\nAnd when Adam and Eve had a little recovered themselves from their\nfear, they went on towards the garden; but at the gate of it there\nstood a great cherub holding a sword of fire; and when they were able\nto look upon his face, they saw that he was angry and that he frowned\nupon them, and raised his sword as if he would smite them with it;\nbut he said nothing. So they were in great fear, and turned from him\nand went back in great sorrow of heart, wandering they knew not\nwhither, until they found themselves standing on the top of a rock,\nand before their feet was a precipice. And Adam was so miserable that\nhe desired to live no longer; and he cast himself down from the top\nof the rock, and lay on the ground below without moving; and Eve\nthought that he was dead, and said, \"I will not live after him; it is\nthrough my fault that all these evils have come upon him.\" And she\nalso threw herself down from the top of the rock; but though both of\nthem were torn and bruised, they were not wounded to death. And after\na long time they came to themselves.\n\nThen they bethought them that they had done wrong in trying to put an\nend to their own lives before it pleased God to set them free from\nthis world. Therefore Adam took stones and piled them up in the shape\nof an altar, and then they gathered leaves from the trees and wiped\noff the blood that had been spilt upon the face of the rock, and\ngathered up the dust that was mingled with their blood and laid it\nupon the altar, and prayed to God to forgive their trespass. And this\nwas the first offering that they made to God. And God looked upon\nthem with pity and forgave them, and said, \"As you have shed your\nblood, so after five thousand and five hundred years have passed will\nI take your flesh upon Me and shed My blood for you and for your\nchildren; and it shall have power to quench the flame of the sword\nwhich is in the hand of the angel, and you shall enter again into the\ngarden, and dwell there until the time when I shall make a new heaven\nand a new earth.\"\n\nBut when Satan saw that God had pity upon Adam and Eve and accepted\ntheir humble offering--for he was all this time keeping watch to see\nwhat would become of them--he was filled with dismay and hate, and\nbegan to contrive means by which he might lead them astray and put an\nend to them; for he thought, \"If these creatures were destroyed,\nthe earth would remain to me and to my hosts, and I should reign over\nit alone.\" He called therefore for some of his host, and made them\nappear like angels of light. And when they were all disguised in this\nfashion, they rose into the air and flew towards the cave, from which\nAdam and Eve were just coming out, meaning to go once again towards\nthe garden. When they caught sight of these bright ones in the air,\nthey stopped and raised their hands towards them, thinking that they\nwere angels coming to them with a message. Satan called to Adam,\n\"Adam, we are angels come from God; He has sent us to bring you to\nthe lake of pure water that is on the north side of Eden, that you\nmay wash yourselves in it and be cleansed from your sin, and return\nonce more to the garden. Come therefore and follow us.\" And they\nturned and began flying towards the north; but Adam and Eve were glad\nbeyond measure, and followed the troop of angels as quickly as they\ncould, till they came to the mountain on the north side of Eden which\noverhung the lake. Then Satan lighted on the ground, and guided them\nto the top of the mountain, which was very steep. And when they were\nat the summit, they stood for a while and looked down upon the waters\nof the lake; and while they were doing so, Satan vanished away\nsilently, and all his host with him; so that when Adam and Eve looked\nround, they found themselves left alone and in great peril. And they\nsaw that they had been brought into this danger by Satan, and that he\nhad deceived them once again. And they cried aloud for help.\n\nThen God had pity on them, and commanded the angels Sariel and\nSalathiel to bear them in their arms and carry them back to their\ncave. And when they were come there, Adam prayed to God that, if they\nmight not be permitted to go into the garden any more, He would at\nleast give them something for a remembrance of it to comfort them. So\nGod commanded the archangel Michael to go as far as the Sea of India,\nand fetch thence some gold, and dip it in the water that flows from\nunder the Tree of Life, and give it to Adam. Likewise He commanded\nGabriel to speak to the cherub that kept the gate of the garden, and\ngo in and fetch some frankincense; and Raphael to bring myrrh also\nfrom the garden. And they did so. And Michael brought seventy rods of\ngold, and Gabriel twelve pounds weight of frankincense, and Raphael\nthree pounds of myrrh; and these were all laid up in the cave where\nAdam and Eve lived: wherefore it was called the Cave of Treasures.\nAnd when the appointed time was fulfilled, and the Word took upon Him\nthe flesh of the sons of Adam, three kings came from the East to do\nHim honour, and offered to Him that same gold and frankincense and\nmyrrh, which had come down to them through many generations.\n\nAfter some days, Adam and Eve made a vow that they would go, one of\nthem to the river Tigris and the other to the river Euphrates, and\nwould wade into the water up to the neck, and stand there for forty\nwhole days and nights, praying earnestly that they might be forgiven;\nfor even yet they went on hoping that, if they accomplished some\ngreat act of repentance, they might be permitted to return into Eden.\nThey separated, therefore, and stood in the water of the river,\nfasting and praying. But Satan suspected that they had made such a\nvow, and it frightened him, for he did not feel sure that God would\nnot change His purpose and forgive them; and he said to himself, \"I\nwill take care that they shall not keep their vow.\" Accordingly, on\nthe thirty-fifth day, as Eve stood praying in the water, she heard a\nvoice as of an angel praising God, and she looked and saw one in\nbright raiment coming to her, and he called to her and said, \"God has\nforgiven Adam! All is well. I have just now brought the good tidings\nto Adam, and he bade me come and tell you; and lest you should doubt\nof the truth, he said, 'Remind her of the sign which was given to us\nin the cave: how the angels brought the gold and laid it on the\nsouth side, and the incense on the east, and the myrrh on the west.'\"\nThen Eve was sure that the messenger spoke true, and she rejoiced\ngreatly, and came, as well as she could, out of the water, and\nfollowed him. But when they came in sight of the river Euphrates, she\nsaw Adam still standing in the water praying, and she knew that she\nhad been deceived; and at that moment Satan vanished away, and Eve\nfell upon the ground, for she was stiff with the cold, and weak with\nfasting. As for Adam, when he saw her, he cried out and smote upon\nhis breast, and sank down into the water, and would have perished but\nthat God sent His angel and drew him up out of the water. And he\nshowed Adam that he could not by these means gain admittance to the\ngarden before the time appointed was fulfilled.\n\nAfter these things God showed Adam and Eve the things that were\nnecessary for their life. For as yet they had eaten nothing since\nthey came out of the garden; because the food which they had when\nthey were there was heavenly food, and it sustained them through all\nthese many days. Neither had they any clothes. Therefore God told\nthem to go to the seashore, and there they should find the skins of\nsome sheep whose flesh had been devoured by lions, and these skins\nthey should take and make them into raiment. But Satan heard the\nwords of God, and immediately went to the place where the skins were,\nwith intent to throw them into the sea, or burn them with fire; only,\njust as he was about to seize them, God spake a word, and Satan was\nbound there immovable, in his own hideous form. And when Adam and Eve\ncame to the place, they saw him crouching beside the skins; and they\nwere afraid at the horrible look of him. Then the Word came to them,\nsaying, \"This is he who promised to make you as gods. What have you\ngained, think you, by hearkening to his words?\" And Satan was\ncowed, and fled away in shame.\n\nAdam and Eve therefore took the sheep-skins, and there came an angel\nwho showed them how to sew them together with palm-thorns and sinews,\nand they made them into raiment.\n\nAgain, God showed them a land where corn was growing, and told them\nhow they might use it for bread; for it was ripe, and they gathered\nthe ears and made an offering of the first ears. And Satan came and\nburnt part of the corn; but the angels drove him away.\n\nMany other times also did Satan try to destroy Adam and Eve, coming\nto them disguised as an angel and enticing them into the wilderness;\nand again, when they were sleeping on the side of a mountain outside\ntheir cave, he loosened a great rock above them that it might fall\nand crush them; but the angels of God caught it and fixed it like a\nroof over the heads of Adam and Eve, and when they awoke they were\nastonished. And once he fell upon Adam and smote him in the side with\na sharp stone so that he almost slew him. Nevertheless, in all these\nperils Adam and Eve put their trust in God, and He protected them and\nhealed them. And after a time Satan perceived that he would not be\nable to destroy them by injuring their bodies, and that they would\nnot listen to him when he tempted them to disobey God. So Satan's war\nagainst Adam was defeated.\n\nThis is the first part of the story of Adam, as it is told in an old\nbook called The Conflict of Adam and Eve. It is only part of the\nstory; I have left out a great deal. The second part of the story is\ntaken from a Greek book called The Revelation of Moses, and a Latin\none called The Life of Adam and Eve. It tells how Adam died and was\nburied.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF ADAM AND EVE\n\n\nAdam lived for 930 years; and there were born to him thirty sons and\nthirty daughters. And when he was 930 years old he fell sick, and\nsent for all his children, and for their children also, saying, \"Come\nand let me see you before I die.\" They all gathered together\ntherefore at the door of his dwelling, saving Cain, who was a\nwanderer upon the face of the earth; but Seth was the eldest of those\nthat came, and he was the most beloved son of Adam and Eve.\n\nAnd Seth said to his father, \"Father, what is the matter with you?\"\nAnd Adam answered, \"Great pain and sickness is upon me.\" And his\nchildren said, \"What mean you by pain and sickness?\" For as yet no\none had died upon the earth except Abel, whom Cain slew. Then said\nSeth, \"Father, is it because you long after the garden and desire the\nfruit of it? If it be so, command me, and I will go to the gate, and\ncast dust upon my head, and weep and pray; and God will send His\nangel, and it may be He will suffer me to bring you some of the fruit\nof the garden, and you shall eat it and recover.\" Eve also wept and\nsaid, \"My lord Adam, give me the half of your disease, and let me\nbear it for you; because it is through my fault that this evil has\ncome upon you.\" Then said Adam, \"I will tell you what you shall do,\neven you and my son Seth: you shall go to the garden and pray there\nas you have said, and ask the angel to give me some of the oil of\nmercy that flows from the Tree of Life, and bring it to me that I may\nanoint my body with it, and be eased from my pain.\"\n\nSo Eve and Seth departed and went towards the garden; and as they\nwere going through the woods, a wild beast leaped out and attacked\nSeth. And Eve was terrified and cried out, \"Alas! alas! what will\nbecome of me at the last day? Surely all that have done evil will\ncurse me, saying, 'Woe unto Eve, because she kept not the\ncommandment of God!'\" And she cried out upon the wild beast, \"How\nwast thou not afraid to fight against the image of God? How is thy\nmouth opened against Him? Dost thou not remember that God put thee\nin subjection to us?\" And the beast spake with a man's voice and\nsaid, \"What have we to do with thy weeping and complaints? How was\nit that thy mouth was opened to eat of the fruit? Accuse me not,\nlest I begin to accuse thee.\" Then said Seth to the beast, \"Shut thy\nmouth: be silent: dare not to touch the image of God.\" And the beast\nanswered, \"Thee will I obey, O Seth.\" And it fled and left him\nwounded, and went back to its den.\n\nSo Eve and Seth went on to the garden and wept before the gate,\nbeseeching God to send them the oil of mercy for Adam. And God sent\nMichael the archangel to them, who said, \"Seth, thou man of God,\nweary not thyself with making supplication for the oil of mercy, for\nit cannot be given to thee now. But when the times are fulfilled,\nthen shall come One who shall anoint thy father with that oil, and he\nshall rise up and return to the garden, he and all his seed; and the\nevil heart shall be taken from them, and a new heart shall be given\nthem to understand that which is good, and God shall dwell in the\nmidst of them, and they shall be His people. But now go back to thy\nfather, for his end is near, even within three days, and tell him\nthese words; and watch what shall come to pass when he is taken from\nthee.\" They returned therefore to Adam, and told him; and he groaned\nand said, \"Alas! O Eve, what is this that thou hast done, to bring\nupon us the dominion of death? Now therefore call together our\nchildren and our children's children, and tell them concerning our\nsin, from first to last.\" So, when they were assembled, Eve spoke to\nthem, and told them the whole story of how Satan came to the serpent\nand taunted it for paying homage to Adam and Eve, forasmuch as they\nwere neither so beautiful nor so wise as itself; and he persuaded the\nserpent to let him speak through its mouth; and at the hour when the\nangels go up to the heavens to worship God, the serpent slipped over\nthe wall and found Eve by the Tree of Knowledge; and of what happened\nafter that, until the time when they were cast out of the garden. And\nwhen she ceased speaking, her children departed.\n\nThen she went in to Adam, and said to him,\n\n\"How can I live when you are dead? and how long will it be before I\nalso die? Tell me.\" Adam answered, \"Trouble not yourself; for you\nwill not tarry long after me, and I believe that the same grave will\nhold both of us. But now, when I die, leave me alone, and let no one\ntouch me until the will of God is made known concerning me. For I am\nsure that God will not forget me, but will visit the creature which\nHis hands have made. Now therefore go and pray to Him until I give up\nmy spirit to Him that gave it; for we know not how we shall meet Him,\nwhether He will yet be wroth with us, or whether He will turn and\nhave mercy upon us.\" She went out therefore and fell upon the ground\nand prayed a long time.\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEATH OF ADAM AND EVE\n\n\nAnd at last the Angel of Mankind came to her and said, \"Rise up, Eve;\nfor Adam thy husband is departing out of this life, and is going to\nmeet Him that made him.\"\n\nEve therefore arose and looked up into the sky; and she saw a chariot\nof light coming, drawn by four shining eagles, and angels on either\nside escorting the chariot. And when it came above the place where\nour father Adam lay, it stayed. And the angels came bearing censers,\nand they stood about it and lighted their censers, and the smoke of\nthe incense rose up and hid the firmament; and the angels bowed and\nworshipped, saying, \"Holy One, have mercy, for he is Thine image and\nthe work of Thy hands.\"\n\nAlso Eve beheld two great and fearful ones standing in the heavens,\nand she was afraid and called upon Seth, saying, \"Rise up, O Seth,\nand come to me, and behold that which no eye of man hath looked\nupon.\" So he came to her, and she said, \"Seest thou the seven heavens\nopen, and thy father Adam lying upon his face and the holy angels\ninterceding for him?\" She said, moreover, \"Who are the two dark ones\nthat stand praying for thy father?\" And Seth answered, \"They are the\nSun and the Moon, who are entreating the Most High for my father\nAdam.\" And Eve said, \"Where then is their light, and why is their\naspect black?\" And he said, \"They cannot shine in the presence of\nthe Light of all things: therefore is their light departed from\nthem.\"\n\nNow as Seth was speaking to his mother, behold, the angels blew with\nthe trumpets, and fell on their faces, and cried with a loud voice,\n\"Blessed be the glory of the Lord over all His works; for He hath had\ncompassion upon Adam, the work of His hands.\" Then came one of the\nSeraphim, having six wings, and caught up the soul of Adam and bare\nit to the lake of pure water which is on the north side of Eden, and\nwashed it before the face of God. And the Most High commanded him to\ndeliver it unto Michael the archangel, that he should bear it into\nParadise until the day of the visitation of all things.\n\nAfter that the holy archangel entreated the Most High concerning the\nbody of Adam. And God commanded all the angels to come before Him,\nevery one in his order; and they gathered themselves together,\nbearing censers and trumpets and vials full of odours. And the Lord\nof Hosts went up, and the great winds before Him, and the Cherubim\nflying upon the winds, and the angels of heaven round about Him. And\nthey bore up the body of Adam and carried it into the garden. And all\nthe trees of the garden bowed and swayed and gave forth their odours.\nAnd because of the greatness of that sight, and of the sweetness of\nthe odours of Paradise, all the sons of Adam, and all that were on\nthe earth, were cast into a deep sleep, saving Seth only.\n\nNow as the body of Adam lay in Paradise, God said, \"O Adam, why didst\nthou transgress My commandment? For if thou hadst kept it, they that\npersecute thee would not have rejoiced against thee. Nevertheless I\nsay unto thee, that hereafter I will turn their joy into sorrow, and\nthy sorrow into joy.\"\n\nThen the angels brought shrouds of silk and fine linen, and God\ncommanded Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael, and they wrapped up\nthe body of Adam therein, and anointed it with sweet odours. And the\nLord said, \"Bring hither also the body of Abel.\" For since the day\nwhen Cain slew him, the body of Abel had not been buried: because\nCain often sought to hide it, but the earth would not receive it,\nuntil the dust that was first taken out of her and made into a body,\nthat is, the body of Adam, should be restored to her.\n\nSo the body of Abel was brought and wrapped in grave-clothes like\nthat of Adam; and they were both of them buried in the place from\nwhich God took the dust when He formed Adam at the first, and the\nangels dug the grave and covered it in.\n\nAnd when this was done, God called to the body, saying, \"Adam, Adam!\"\nAnd the body answered, \"Here am I, Lord.\" And the Lord said, \"I\nsaid unto thee, 'Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.'\nBehold now I promise thee that in the last days I will raise thee up\nyet again out of the dust, even thee and all thy seed with thee.\" And\nGod sealed the tomb that no man should touch it until six days were\nfulfilled, and the rib which was taken out of Adam should be given\nback to him.\n\nAfter these things Eve awoke out of her sleep, and was troubled\nbecause she knew not what had become of the body of Adam; and she\nprayed, saying, \"Lord, as Thou didst make me out of the flesh of\nAdam, and as I was with him in the garden, and after we were cast out\nI was never parted from him, so now, I beseech thee, suffer me to be\nburied with him, and let no man part us asunder.\" And on the seventh\nday after the death of Adam, Eve was thus praying; and when she had\nended her prayer, she looked up into heaven and smote her breast and\nsaid, \"Lord God of all things, receive my spirit.\" And so she gave up\nher soul to God.\n\nAnd immediately the angels came and took her body, and buried it in\nthe place where the bodies of Adam and Abel were laid.\n\n\n\n\nABRAHAM\n\n\nAbraham was the son of Terah, and Terah was a maker of idols which he\nsold to the people round about him. Now this is the story of how\nAbraham came to believe in the true God; and in the ancient book the\nstory is put into the mouth of Abraham himself, and he tells it in\nthis way:\n\nI was troubled in my mind because I desired to know who was in truth\nthe strongest of all the Gods. And one day when I was attending to\nthe gods of my father Terah, gods of wood and stone, gold and silver,\niron and brass, I went into the temple where they stood, and found\nthat one of them, the god named Marumath, who was carved out of\nstone, had fallen over and was lying at the feet of the god Zucheus.\nWhen I saw that, I was alarmed, and thought that I should never be\nable to put him back in his place by myself, because he was so heavy;\nso I went and told my father, and he came, and the two of us could\nhardly manage to move him; but as we were doing so, the head of the\ngod broke off in my hands. At that my father said, \"Abraham\", and I\nsaid, \"Here am I, bring me the chisels out of the house.\" And\nwhen I had done so, he fashioned another Marumath out of stone,\nwithout a head, and fixed the head that had come off the first\nMarumath upon it; and the rest of the old Marumath he broke in\npieces.\n\nAfter that he made five more gods, and bade me take them and sell\nthem in the streets of the city; and I saddled the ass, and put them\nupon it, and went to the river to sell them; and there I found\nmerchants coming from Fandana in Syria with camels, on their way to\nEgypt to bring papyrus from the Nile. And as I was talking with them\none of their camels belched, and the donkey took fright and ran off,\nand the gods fell off its back, and three of them were broken, and\nonly two remained whole. But when the Syrians saw what had happened,\nthey said, \"Why did you not tell us that you had gods to sell? We\nmight have bought them before the donkey took fright, and they would\nnot have been destroyed; at least we will take the gods that remain,\nand pay you the price of them all.\" And they did so; and the broken\ngods I cast into the river Gur, and they sank and were seen no more.\n\nBut as I returned home, I was bewildered and divided in my mind. I\nsaid to myself, \"What an evil trade is this that my father\npractises! Is not he in truth the god of his own gods which he makes\nwith his chisels and lathes and his skill? Ought they not rather to\nworship him than he them? Surely it is all deceit. Look at Marumath,\nwho fell and could not get up again, and these five other gods which\ncould not punish the donkey for running away with them, nor keep\nthemselves from being broken and thrown into the river.\"\n\nAnd as I was thinking of all these things, I arrived at my father's\nhouse. Then I gave the ass his hay and water, and went in and gave\nthe price of the gods to my father Terah, and he was pleased and\nsaid, \"Blessed be thou of my gods: my labour has not been in vain.\"\nBut I said, \"It is rather thou, father, that givest blessing to the\ngods, for thou art their god; their own blessing is vain and their\nhelp is naught: if they cannot help themselves, how should they help\nthee or bless me?\" But he was very angry with me for speaking\nlightly of his gods.\n\nThen I went out of the house, and after a while my father called me\nand said, \"Gather up the chips of the fig-wood wherewith I was\nmaking gods before you came in, and see about preparing dinner.\"\n\nAnd as I was doing so, I found a little god lying among the straw and\nthe rubbish, and on his forehead was written: \"The god Barisat.\" So I\nkept him, and did not tell my father; and when I had kindled the fire\nto cook the dinner, and was going out to fetch the food, I set\nBarisat down in front of the fire and said to him, \"Barisat, take\ncare that the fire does not go out before I come back; and if it\ndoes, blow upon it and revive it.\" Then I went out and did my errand,\nand when I returned I found Barisat fallen over backwards, and his\nfeet were in the fire and were badly burnt; and I laughed to myself\nand said, \"You are in truth a good fireman and cook, Barisat.\" Just\nthen the fire caught upon his body and burnt him all up.\n\nWhen the time was come, I brought food to my father and he ate, and I\ngave him wine and milk and he drank, and rejoiced and praised his god\nMarumath; and I said, \"Father, you should not praise Marumath, but\nrather Barisat, for he has done more for you: he has thrown himself\ninto the fire to cook your dinner.\" \"And where is he now?\" said my\nfather. \"He has been burnt to ashes,\" I said, \"in the heat of the\nfire, and nothing but dust is left of him.\" And my father said,\n\"Great is the strength of Barisat! I will make another one to-day,\nand he shall prepare my food for me to-morrow.\" Now when I heard my\nfather say these words, I laughed in myself, and yet I was troubled\nand angry in my soul. And at last I answered and said, \"Whichever of\nthese things you honour as a god, it is folly. The god Zucheus, who\nis the god of my brother Nahor, is more honourable than your god\nMarumath, for he is adorned with gold finely wrought, and when he is\nold he will be fashioned over again; but if Marumath is broken or\ninjured he will not be renewed, for he is only of stone. And again\nthe god Joauv, who stands next to Zucheus, is more honourable than\nBarisat, for he is covered with silver; but as for Barisat, you made\nhim yourself with your axe, and, look, he is fallen upon the earth,\nand the fashion of his likeness is destroyed, and he is burnt to\nashes, and you say, 'To-day I will make another, and he shall\nprepare my food to-morrow.'\n\n\"But I say to you, my father, the fire is mightier than all your gods\nof gold and silver and stone and wood, for it can devour them all.\nYet I call not the fire god, for it is weaker than the water which\ncan subdue it. Yet again I call not the water god, for the earth\nswallows it up. Neither call I the earth god, for it is subject to\nmen that till it, and to the sun that gives light to it. Neither call\nI the sun god, for it is overcome by the darkness of night. But I say\nthat there is one true God who hath made all these things; who hath\nmade the heavens blue, and the sun golden, and the moon and stars\nwhite and shining, and hath raised up the earth from among the\nwaters, and breathed into thee the breath of life, and hath sought me\nout in the trouble of my soul; and would that He might reveal Himself\nunto us!\"\n\nAnd as I was speaking these words to my father in the court of his\nhouse, there came from heaven the voice of a Mighty One speaking out\nof a cloud of fire, and said, \"Abraham, Abraham!\" And I said,\n\"Behold, here am I!\" And He said, \"In the thought of thy heart thou\nseekest after the God of Gods and the Maker of all things: I am He.\nDepart from thy father Terah and go out of his house, lest thou be\nconsumed in his wickedness.\" And I went out; and it came to pass, as\nI came to the door of the house, that there fell a noise of a great\nthundering, and the fire fell and burnt up my father Terah and his\nhouse and all that was therein.\n\nThis is the story of the beginning of the life of Abraham; and that\nwhich is told about the end of his life is as follows:\n\nAbraham had lived out the measure of his days. He was now a hundred\nand seventy-five years old, and all the days of his life he had lived\nin kindness and meekness and uprightness: and especially was he\nhospitable and courteous to strangers. He dwelt by the cross-roads\nnear the oak of Mamre, and entertained all the wayfarers who came\nthat way, rich and poor, lame and sound, friends or strangers. But at\nlast to him, as to all other men, there came the bitter cup of death,\nwhich none can put away. So when the time was come, the Most High\ncalled to him the archangel Michael and said to him, \"Michael, prince\nof the host, go down to Abraham and speak to him concerning his\ndeath, that he may set his house in order: for his possessions are\ngreat. Announce to him therefore that he is to depart speedily out of\nthe earthly life, and come to his Lord in peace and happiness.\"\n\nMichael therefore went forth from the presence of the Lord and went\ndown to Abraham at the oak of Mamre, and found him in the fields hard\nby, watching his husbandmen ploughing with their oxen. And Abraham\nlifted up his eyes and saw Michael coming towards him in the dress\nand fashion of a soldier--for he was the captain of the Lord's\nhost--very beautiful to look upon. And Abraham rose and went to meet\nhim, as was his custom with all strangers; and when they had saluted\none another, Abraham asked Michael whence he came; and Michael\nanswered, \"I come from the Great City, and my errand is to fetch a\ncertain friend of the Great King, whom He is inviting to come to\nHim.\" Then said Abraham, \"My lord, come with me to my house.\" And\nwhen Michael consented, Abraham called one of his men and bade him\nfetch two quiet horses that he and the stranger might ride home on\nthem. But Michael refused, for he knew that no earthly horse could\nbear him; so he said, \"Nay, but rather let us go on foot to your\nhouse.\"\n\nAnd as they went up from the fields, they came to a cypress-tree\ngrowing by the wayside; and as they passed by it there came from it a\nhuman voice, which said, \"Holy is the Lord who calleth to Himself\nthem that love Him.\" Now this happened by the commandment of God, to\nbe a sign to Abraham, and he marvelled; but when he looked at his\ncompanion and saw that he seemed to take no notice of it, he said\nnothing, thinking that only he had heard the voice. Soon after they\ncame to the house, and Isaac and Sarah came to greet them, and they\nsat down in the courtyard of the house. But Isaac said to his mother\nSarah, \"Mother, I am sure that the man who is sitting with my father\nis not of the race of men that live on the earth.\" Just then Abraham\ncalled to Isaac, \"Isaac, my son, draw water from the well, and bring\nit to me in a basin, that we may wash the stranger's feet, for he has\ncome a long journey.\" So Isaac ran and fetched the water to his\nfather; and Abraham said to him secretly, \"My child, something says\nto me that this will be the last time that I shall wash the feet of\nany stranger coming to this house.\" And Isaac was greatly distressed\nand said, \"What mean you, father, by these words?\" Abraham said\nnothing, but stooped down and began to wash the feet of Michael; and\nIsaac wept. Abraham too shed tears, and Michael seeing it, was moved\nwith pity, and wept also; and his tears fell into the basin of water\nand became precious pearls. When Abraham saw that, he marvelled; but\nhe gathered up the pearls secretly and said nothing.\n\nAfter that he told Isaac to go and prepare the banqueting-room,\nspread two couches, light the lamps, burn sweet odours, and fetch\nfragrant herbs and flowers from the garden. \"For,\" said he, \"this\nman who is come to us is worthy of all the honour we can do him.\" So\nIsaac went to make ready the room, and Sarah also set about preparing\na feast. Then, while they were all busying themselves with\npreparation, the sun began to set, and the hour came at which all the\nangels appear before God and worship Him; and Michael also flew up\ninto the heavens in the twinkling of an eye, and stood before the\nLord. And when all the angels had done their worship and gone forth\nagain, Michael remained and said to the Lord, \"Lord, I cannot speak\nto Abraham about his death; for I have never seen his like upon the\nearth, kind, courteous, hospitable, fearing God, and keeping himself\npure from all evil. I cannot grieve his heart by telling him that he\nis to die.\" And the Lord said, \"Go down again to my friend Abraham,\nand whatsoever he would have thee do, do it; and I will put the\nthought of his death into the mind of his son Isaac in a dream. Then\nIsaac shall tell the dream, and thou shalt interpret it, and so\nAbraham shall be certified of his death.\"\n\nSo Michael returned to Abraham's house, and sat at meat with him, and\nIsaac waited on them; and after supper, Abraham offered up prayer as\nhe was wont, and the archangel prayed with him, and they went to\ntheir beds. Isaac also asked his father if he might sleep with them,\nfor he desired exceedingly to be near the wonderful stranger and to\nhear his words; but Abraham said, \"Nay, my son, lest we be burdensome\nto the stranger.\" Therefore Isaac bowed down and received his\nfather's blessing, and went to his own chamber.\n\nAnd about the third hour of the night Isaac dreamed a dream, and it\nfrightened him, so that he leapt out of bed and ran hastily to the\nroom where Abraham and Michael were sleeping, and beat upon the door\nand said, \"Father, open to me quickly! let me kiss you once again\nbefore they take you away from me.\" Then Abraham opened the door, and\nIsaac ran in and hung upon his neck, weeping loudly. And Sarah was\nawakened by the noise of the weeping, and came quickly to them; and\nshe also wept and said, \"What is the matter? Has our brother who is\ncome to us brought you evil tidings of Lot, your nephew?\" But Michael\nsaid, \"No, lady, it is not so; but, as I think, your son Isaac has\ndreamed a dream which has troubled him, so he came to us weeping, and\nwe were moved at the sight of his tears, and wept with him.\"\n\nNow Sarah, when she heard the sound of the voice of Michael, became\nsure in her own mind that it was an angel of God who was speaking.\nShe beckoned therefore to Abraham to come to her at the door of the\nhouse, and took him aside and said to him, \"Do you know who this man\nis?\" and he said, \"No.\" \"Do you remember,\" said she, \"the three men\nwho came to us once at the oak of Mamre; and how you killed a calf\nand prepared a feast for them; and how when the calf was eaten, it\nsuddenly became whole again and sprang up and ran and suckled its\nmother? I am sure that this is one of those three men.\" Abraham\nanswered, \"Sarah, you have hit the truth; praised be God for His\nwonders. Now I tell you that last night when I was washing the feet\nof this man, I said to myself, 'Surely these are the feet that I\nwashed long ago under the oak-tree?' And furthermore, he shed tears,\nand they fell into the water and became these pearls.\" And he drew\nthe pearls out of his bosom and showed them to her, and she bowed her\nhead and praised God and said, \"Be sure, Abraham, that he is come to\nreveal some matter to us, whether for evil or for good.\"\n\nThen Abraham left Sarah and went in and said to Isaac, \"Come here, my\nchild, and tell me what you saw, and what caused you to come to us in\nsuch haste?\" And Isaac said, \"It was this, father. I saw in a dream\nthis night the sun and the moon upon my head, and the rays of the sun\nwere all about me and enlightened me, and I rejoiced in them; then I\nsaw the heavens opening, and a shining man, brighter than seven suns,\ncame down; and he approached me and took the sun from off my head\nand carried it up into heaven; and again after a little while, as I\nwas sorrowing over it, he came and took the moon from me. Then I was\ngreatly distressed, and I besought him, saying, 'Nay, my lord, do\nnot take all my glory from me; have pity upon me; if thou must needs\ntake the sun, yet leave me the moon.' But he said, 'Suffer them to\nbe taken up to the King above, for He desires them to be with Him.'\nSo he took them away, saying, 'They are removed from toil unto rest,\nand from darkness unto light.' But their glory he left upon me. Then\nI awoke.\" And Isaac ceased speaking.\n\nThen Michael said, \"Hear me, righteous Abraham. The sun which Isaac\nsaw is you, his father; the moon likewise is Sarah, his mother; and\nthe shining one who came down out of heaven and took them away is\nmyself. And now be it known to you that the time is come for you to\nleave this earthly life and go to God.\" But Abraham said, \"Why, here\nis a marvel indeed! And are you the one appointed to take my soul\nfrom me?\" He answered, \"I am Michael, the captain of the host of\nGod, and I am sent to speak to you concerning your death.\" Then said\nAbraham, \"I know that you are an angel of God, and that you are sent\nto take away my soul. But I shall not follow you!\"\n\nWhen Michael heard that word he vanished away from them and went up\nto the heavens and stood before the Lord, and told Him what Abraham\nhad said; and the Lord answered, \"Return to Abraham My friend and\nspeak yet again to him, Thus saith the Lord: 'I brought thee out of\nthy father's house into the land of promise: I have blessed thee and\nincreased thee more than the sands of the seashore and more than the\nstars of heaven. Why dost thou resist My decree? Knowest thou not\nthat Adam and Eve died, and all their offspring; none of the\nforefathers escaped death; they are all of them gone unto the place\nof spirits, all of them have been gathered by the sickle of death.\nAnd I have not suffered the angel of death to approach thee: I have\nnot permitted any evil disease to come upon thee, but instead I have\nsent mine own prince Michael to speak peaceably unto thee, that thou\nmayest set thine house in order and bless thy son Isaac and depart in\npeace; and now thou sayest, \"I will in nowise follow him.\" Knowest\nthou not that if I send Death unto thee, thou must needs come whether\nthou wilt or no?'\" So Michael returned to Abraham, and found him\nweeping, and told him all these words; and Abraham besought him,\nsaying, \"Speak yet once again to my Lord and say to Him, 'Thus saith\nAbraham Thy servant: Lord, Thou hast been gracious to me all my life\nlong, and now, behold, I do not resist Thy word, for I know that I am\na mortal man; but this one thing I ask of Thee, that while I am yet\nin my body Thou wouldst suffer me to see Thy world and all the\ncreatures that Thou hast made. Then shall I depart out of this life\nwithout any trouble of mind.'\" And Michael returned and spake all\nthese words before the Lord, and the Lord said, \"Take a cloud of\nlight and angels that have power over the chariots, and bear Abraham\nin the chariot of the cherubim into the air of heaven and let him see\nall the world before he dies.\"\n\nAnd it was done; and Michael showed Abraham all the regions of the\nworld. He saw men ploughing and carting, keeping flocks, dancing,\nsporting, and playing the harp, wrestling, going to law, weeping,\ndying, and being carried out to burial: even all the things that are\ndone in the earth, both good and evil. And in one place they saw men\nwith swords in their hands, and Abraham asked Michael, \"Who are these?\"\nAnd Michael said, \"These are thieves who are going out to steal\nand to kill and to destroy.\" Then Abraham said, \"O that God would\nhear me and send evil beasts out of the forest to devour them!\" And\nin that moment wild beasts rushed out upon them and tore them to\npieces. Then in another place he saw men and women feasting and\ndrinking before their idols, and he said, \"O that the earth might\nopen and swallow them up!\" And immediately it happened as he had\nsaid. And in yet another place he saw men breaking through the wall of\na house to enter it and rob it; and he prayed again, and fire fell\nfrom heaven and burnt them up. Then there came a voice which said,\n\"Michael, prince of My host, turn the chariot and bring Abraham back,\nlest, if he sees any more of the sinners upon earth, he destroy the\nwhole race of men. For he is a righteous man, and has no compassion\nupon sinners. But I created the world, and I would not have any\nperish. Bring Abraham therefore to the entering in of the gate of\nheaven, that he may see the judgment and the recompensing of men, and\nmay have pity upon the souls whom he has blotted out.\"\n\nMichael therefore turned the chariot and brought Abraham across the\ngreat river of Ocean to the entering in of the gate of heaven, and\nshowed him the judgments. And Abraham saw the narrow gate of life and\nthe broad gate of destruction, and between the gates he saw our\nfather Adam sitting upon a throne, and clad in a glorious robe of\nmany colours; and he saw how Adam lamented when the souls went in\nthrough the broad gate, and how he rejoiced when they attained to the\nnarrow gate, and how his weeping exceeded his rejoicing. Moreover,\nMichael showed him how the souls of men are examined concerning their\nworks and how their acts are re-corded and weighed. But when he saw\nhow hard it is to enter in at the strait gate, it repented him that\nhe had prayed for the punishment of the sinners, and he said to\nMichael, \"O prince of the host, let us entreat the Lord that He\nwould have mercy upon the souls of the men whom I cursed in my anger;\nfor now I know that I sinned before God when I prayed against them.\"\nThen they both prayed earnestly to God; and after a long time there\ncame a voice saying, \"Abraham, I have heard thy prayer, and I have\ngiven back life to the men whom thou didst destroy.\"\n\nMoreover, the voice bade Michael take Abraham back to his house. And\nwhen he was come thither, he went up to the great chamber, and sat\nupon the couch; and Sarah and Isaac came and fell on his neck, and\nall his servants gathered about him, rejoicing at his return. And\nMichael said, \"Hearken, Abraham: here is Sarah your wife and Isaac\nyour son, and here are all your manservants and maidservants about\nyou. Now therefore set in order your house and bless them, and make\nready to depart with me, for your hour is come.\" Abraham answered,\n\"Did the Lord command you to say this, or do you say it of yourself?\"\nMichael said, \"The Lord commanded me, and I give the message to you.\"\nYet for all that Abraham answered, \"I will not follow you.\" So\nMichael went forth and stood before the Most High again and told him\nthe words of Abraham; and he said besides, \"I cannot lay hands upon\nhim, for there is not his like upon the earth, no, not even the\nrighteous Job. Tell me therefore, Lord, what I must do.\"\n\nAnd God said, \"Call Death, and bid him come hither.\" Michael went and\nfound Death, and said to him, \"Come, for the Lord of all things, the\nImmortal King, calleth for thee.\" And Death trembled and feared\nexceedingly when he heard that; but he followed Michael and came and\nstood before the Lord, quivering and shaking with fear, awaiting the\ncommands of his Master. And God said to him, \"Hide thy hideous\nappearance, cover up thy corruption, put away from thee all thy\nterror, and put on a glorious and beautiful aspect, and go down to\nAbraham My friend and take him and bring him to Me: only see that\nthou make him not afraid, but bring him peaceably, for he is My\nfriend.\" So Death went forth from the presence of God, and made\nhimself like an angel of light, beautiful to look upon, and departed\nto seek Abraham. Now Abraham had come down from his chamber and was\nsitting under the trees of Mamre, leaning his head upon his hand,\nexpecting the return of Michael the archangel. And suddenly he was\naware of a sweet perfume, and of a light shining near him; and he\nturned round and saw Death coming towards him in a form of great\nglory and beauty, and rose to meet him, supposing him to be an angel\nof God. And they greeted one another, and Abraham said, \"Whence come\nyou to me, and who are you?\" Death answered, \"Abraham, I tell you the\ntruth: I am the bitter cup of death.\" Abraham said, \"Rather you are\nthe beauty of the world; a fairer than you I have never seen, and how\nsay you, 'I am the bitter cup of death'?\" He answered, \"I have told\nyou the truth; the name by which God named me is that which I have\nspoken.\" Abraham said, \"And why have you come to this place?\" Death\nanswered, \"I am come to take your soul, O righteous one.\" Abraham\nsaid, \"I hear what you say, but I shall not come with you.\" But\nDeath was silent and answered him not a word.\n\nThen Abraham rose up and went towards his house: and Death followed\nhim. And he went up into his chamber: and Death went with him; and he\nlaid himself on his bed: and Death came and sat by his feet. And\nAbraham said, \"Go, depart from me: I wish to rest here on my couch.\"\nDeath answered, \"I shall not depart till I have taken thy soul from\nthy body.\" Abraham said, \"I adjure thee by the living God: art thou\nin very truth Death?\" He said, \"I am.\" Then said Abraham, \"Comest\nthou to all men in such a beautiful shape as this?\" He said, \"Nay,\nmy lord Abraham; it is thy righteousness and thy good deeds which\nmake as it were a crown of glory upon my head; it is only to such as\nthou art that I come thus peaceably, but to sinners I show myself\nmuch otherwise.\" \"Show me then,\" said Abraham, \"in what form thou\ncomest to them: let me see all thy fierceness and bitterness.\"\n\"No,\" said Death, \"for thou couldst not bear to look upon it.\"\n\"Verily, I am able to bear it,\" he said, \"for the strength of the\nGod of heaven is with me.\"\n\nThen Death let fall from him all his beauty, and Abraham saw him as\nhe was. And where there had been a shining angel, he saw a cloud of\ndarkness, and in it the shapes of horrible wild beasts and all\nunclean creatures; and he saw the heads of fiery dragons, and flames\nof consuming fire darting out; and he seemed to see a dreadful\nprecipice before him, and then a rushing river, and flashes of\nlightning, and crackling of thunder, and thereafter a tempestuous\nraging sea; and again weapons brandished, and venomous basilisks and\nserpents, and bowls of poison; and there came a horrible odour, so\nthat all the servants of Abraham that were in the chamber fainted and\ndied, and Abraham himself swooned and his senses left him.\n\nWhen he came to himself, Death had hidden his terrible aspect and put\non his beautiful form again. And Abraham saw his servants lying dead,\nand said to Death, \"How is it that thou hast slain these?\" And Death\nsaid, \"They died at the sight of my countenance, and in truth it is a\nmarvel that thou also didst not die with them.\" \"Yea,\" said Abraham,\n\"now I know how it was that I came by this faintness of spirit that\nis upon me; but I pray thee, Death, inasmuch as these have been cut\noff before their time, let us entreat God that he would raise them up\nagain.\" So Abraham and Death prayed together; and the spirit of life\nreturned into the servants that had been killed, and they rose up\nagain. After that Abraham conversed with Death.\n\nThen Sarah and Isaac came in and talked with Abraham as he lay on his\nbed. And Abraham said to Death, \"I beseech thee, depart from me for a\nlittle, for since I looked upon thee weakness is come upon me, and my\nbreath labours and my heart is troubled.\" Then said Death, \"Kiss my\nright hand and thy strength will return to thee, and thou wilt be\nfilled with joy.\" So Abraham kissed the hand of Death, and the soul\nof Abraham clave to the hand of Death and left his body; and\nstraightway Michael was there and a multitude of angels with him, and\nthey accompanied the holy soul of Abraham and brought it into the\nheavens into the presence of the Most High, there to abide\neverlastingly in gladness and brightness in the place from which all\nsorrow and sighing are fled away.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF ASENETH, JOSEPH'S WIFE\n\n\nI\n\nThere was once a great man named Potipherah, who was high priest of\nthe city of On in Egypt; and he and his wife had no children. One day\nhe went into the temple to offer sacrifice, as was his custom. He went\nalone, and when he entered the great courtyard of the temple, in the\nmiddle of which stood the altar, he was astonished to see a little\nchild lying upon the altar. Without waiting to offer his sacrifice, he\nhurried back to his wife. \"What is the matter,\" said she, \"that you\ncome back so hastily?\" \"I have seen a wonderful thing,\" he said; \"the\ngods have given us a child. The gates of the temple were locked, so\nthat no one could get into the court; yet there is a child there, lying\non the altar!\" \"What say you?\" said his wife; \"what can be the meaning\nof it?\" So they both hastened to the temple, and when Potipherah\nopened the door of the courtyard, they saw, partly at least, how the\nwonder had happened; for now there was an eagle perched upon the altar\nwith its wings spread out over the child--it was a little girl, quite\nnewly born--to protect it. They guessed that it was the eagle that had\nbrought the child, but, of course, they could not tell whose it was.\nIt was wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and these Potipherah's wife kept\ncarefully by her; for she thought the time might come when they might\nbe recognised by the parents of the little child; and indeed, years\nafterwards, this proved to be the case.\n\nIn the meantime Potipherah and his wife kept the child and brought her\nup, and treated her as their daughter; and they called her Aseneth.\n\nShe grew up to be very beautiful; she was quite unlike an Egyptian\ngirl, and might have been taken for a Hebrew maiden: tall as Sarah\nand lovely as Rebekah or Rachel; so beautiful, in fact, that all the\nsons of the princes and nobles of Egypt were in love with her, and\neven the son of King Pharaoh himself said to his father, \"Give me\nAseneth, the daughter of Potipherah, to wife.\" But Pharaoh said,\n\"Nay, my son, she is not of your rank; you must marry a queen;\nremember, the daughter of the King of Moab is affianced to you.\"\n\nBut besides being very beautiful, Aseneth was exceedingly proud.\nThere was not a man of all the young nobles whom she would hear of,\nmuch less look at. Indeed, hardly any man in Egypt except her own\nfather had ever seen her face; for she lived apart with the maidens\nwho waited on her, in a lofty tower which her father had built\nspecially for her. It was really a noble palace, with ten great\nrooms, one over the other. The first room was paved with porphyry and\nlined with slabs of coloured marbles, and the roof was of gold: and\nit was a kind of chapel for Aseneth. It had golden and silver images\nof all the gods of Egypt, and Aseneth worshipped them and burnt\nincense to them every day. The second chamber was Aseneth's own. In\nit were all her jewels and rich robes and fine linen. In the third\nwere stored the provisions of the house and every delicious fruit or\nsweetmeat that could be got from any part of the world. The other\nseven chambers belonged to the seven maidens who lived with Aseneth\nand tended her. They were all of one age, and as fair as the stars of\nheaven, and Aseneth loved them dearly.\n\nBut to come back to Aseneth's own chamber, which was the most\nsplendid of all. It had three windows, one looking out upon the\ngarden of the tower towards the east, and another towards the south,\nand the third towards the high-road. Opposite the eastern window\nstood a golden bed, with a coverlet woven of gold and purple and fine\nlinen.\n\nAnd no one but Aseneth herself had ever even sat upon that bed, so\nmagnificent and so sacred was it.\n\nBesides all this, the tower had all around it a garden with a high\nwall of squared blocks of stone. The gates (there were four of them)\nwere of iron, and each was guarded by eighteen stalwart men in\narmour. The garden itself was full of shady trees, bearing splendid\nfruit; and there was a springing fountain at one side of it, whose\nwater ran first into a marble trough, and then out of that into a\nstream which watered all the garden and kept it fresh and green.\n\nHere Aseneth lived until she was eighteen years old, beautiful and\nproud and caring for no one except her father and mother and her\nseven maidens. Now the year in which she became eighteen was the\nfirst of the seven years of plenty, of which King Pharaoh had dreamt\nin the dream of the seven cows and the seven ears of corn, which is\nwritten in the Bible. And Joseph was now travelling over all the land\nof Egypt to gather together corn to store up against the seven years\nof famine which were to follow the seven of plenty. And upon a\ncertain day in harvest-time, Potipherah and his wife, who had been\naway at an estate which they possessed in the country, returned to\nthe city of On; and no sooner had they done so than they received a\nmessage from Joseph, saying, \"Let me come and rest at your house\nduring the heat of the day.\" Whereupon Potipherah was greatly\nrejoiced, and thanked the gods for the honour which Joseph did him by\nvisiting him, and ordered a great banquet to be prepared.\n\nJust at this time, Aseneth, who had heard that her father and mother\nwere returned, came to meet them. She had put on her most beautiful\nrobe, of linen woven with gold, and a golden girdle, and necklace and\nbracelets of precious stones upon which were engraved the names of\nthe gods of Egypt. And she had a golden diadem on her head, and over\nit a delicate veil. She hastened to meet her father and mother, and\nthey rejoiced at her wonderful beauty, and made her sit by them, and\nshowed her the gifts they had brought to her from the country--grapes\nand figs, pomegranates and fresh dates, and young doves and quails\nfor her to tame, to her great delight. Then her father said to her,\n\"My child, sit here with us: I want to speak to you.\" So she sat down\nbetween her father and mother, and her father took her hand and\nkissed her, and said, \"My darling child, do you know that Joseph, the\nlord of all this land, the man who is going to save the country from\nthe famine that is coming the man whom Pharaoh trusts and honours\nabove all others, is coming to this house to-day? What would you say\nif I were to offer to give you in marriage to him, to live happily\nwith him for the rest of your life?\"\n\nThen Aseneth was very angry; she blushed as red as fire, and darted\nan ugly glance at her father sideways, and said, \"How can you talk to\nme so, father? Would you give me to a creature like that, the son of\na Canaanitish labourer, who has been in prison--yes, and sold as a\nslave--and only got out of prison because he contrived to explain a\ndream of Pharaoh's, for all the world like the old women? Certainly\nnot! If I marry any one it will be Pharaoh's eldest son.\" So\nPotipherah, disappointed as he was, said no more; and Aseneth\nhurried away to her own chamber. But she looked out of the window.\n\nAs she went out, there ran in a young man, one of Potipherah's\nservants, and said, \"My lord, Joseph is just stopping before our\ngates.\" So Potipherah and his wife and all their retinue rose and\nwent forth to meet Joseph; and the gates of the court towards the\neast were thrown open, and the chariot drove in, drawn by four\nmilk-white horses with harness of gold; and in the chariot stood\nJoseph, clad in a tunic of white linen and a blood-red mantle shot\nwith gold. On his head was a crown with twelve great gems, and above\neach gem was a ray of gold; in his hand was an olive branch with\nleaves and fruit. But fairer than all his equipment was his face, for\nhe was more beautiful than any of the sons of men. And just as all\nthe young nobles of Egypt were mad about Aseneth, so all the ladies\nof Egypt were in love with Joseph; but he had not a word to say to\nany of them, for they were all worshippers of idols, and Joseph\nworshipped the true God--the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.\n\nSo the chariot entered the courtyard of Poti-pherah's palace, and the\ngates were shut. Now Aseneth stood at her window, and when she saw\nJoseph and the beauty of his countenance, she was smitten to the\nheart, her knees trembled, and she almost swooned. A great fear came\nupon her, and she heaved a deep sigh and said, \"Alas, alas, what have\nI said? what have I done? Pity me, O God of Joseph, for it was in\nignorance that I spoke against him. Did I not call him a Canaanitish\nlabourer's son? and lo, now he has come into our house like the sun\nout of heaven. Fool that I was to rail against him as I did! If only\nmy father would give me to him as his slave and drudge, I would serve\nhim till I dropped dead at his feet.\"\n\nMeanwhile Joseph, who had caught sight of Aseneth standing at her\nwindow, had come into the house, and they had washed his feet and set\na table for him by himself (for Joseph would not eat with the\nEgyptians). And he said to Potipherah, \"Who was the woman whom I saw\nlooking out of the window when I came in? Some stranger? If so, she\nmust leave this house.\" \"Nay, my lord,\" said Potipherah, \"she is our\ndaughter.\" And he went on to tell how Aseneth disliked the company of\nmen, and indeed had hardly seen a strange man before that day; and\nJoseph was glad to hear that she hated strange men, and said, \"If she\nbe your daughter, I will love her from this day forth as a sister.\"\n\nAccordingly, Aseneth's mother went and fetched Aseneth, and she\ngreeted Joseph, and he her. Then said Potipherah, \"Come near, my\nchild, and kiss your brother.\" But when she drew near, Joseph put out\nhis hand and thrust her away, and spoke thus: \"It is not right for\none who worships the living God, and eats the bread of life and\ndrinks the cup of immortality, to kiss one that praises with her lips\ndead idols, and eats the bread of death from their tables and drinks\nthe cup of deceit.\" At these harsh words Aseneth was bitterly grieved:\nshe shrank back and looked piteously at Joseph, and her eyes filled\nwith tears; and when he saw how hurt she was, Joseph, who was full of\nkindness raised his hand over her head and blessed her, praying that\nGod, who gives life to all and brings us out of darkness into light,\nmight give life and light to her soul, and number her among His\nchosen people, and bring her into the everlasting rest which He has\npromised to them. So Aseneth went back to her chamber, full of\nmingled joy and sorrow; and she cast herself down on her bed and\nwept. And that same evening Joseph left the house of Potipherah and\nset forth on his journey again. \"But,\" said he, \"I will come back to\nyou in eight days' time.\" Potipherah also and his wife and their\nservants went back to their country house; and Aseneth and her seven\nmaidens were left alone. And the sun went down and all was quiet.\n\n\nII\n\nWhen everyone else in the tower was asleep, Aseneth, who had remained\nweeping on her bed, rose up stealthily and crept downstairs to the\ngate of the tower, where the woman who kept the door was asleep with\nher children; and as quietly as she could she unhooked the heavy\nleather curtain that hung in the doorway, and spreading it out on the\nfloor, heaped up upon it all the cinders and ashes out of the hearth,\nfolded the corners together, dragged it upstairs and threw it down on\nthe floor. Then she barred the door of her room securely, and burst\ninto bitter weeping. It so happened that the maiden whom Aseneth\nloved the best of all her seven companions was awake, and heard the\nsounds of crying. She was alarmed, and flew to wake up the other\nattendants, and all of them came to the door of Aseneth's chamber,\nwhich was locked and barred. They called to her, \"What is the matter,\ndear mistress? Open to us and let us come in and comfort you.\" But\nAseneth answered from within, \"It is nothing but a violent headache.\nI am in bed, and too tired and ill to get up and open the door. Go\nback all of you to your beds. I shall be well to-morrow.\" So they\ndispersed to their rooms.\n\nAnd when they were safely gone, Aseneth got up and opened the door of\nthe room in which she kept her dresses and jewels, taking care to\nmake no noise; and from among all her robes she chose out a black\none which she had worn, years before, when the only son of Potipherah\nhad died. And she cast off her royal robe and her diadem and veil and\ngirdle, and put on the black robe and girded it with a rope. Next she\nwent to the shrine wherein stood all the golden and silver images of\nher gods, and took them and threw them out of the window for the\nwayfarers to pick up; and she took the supper that had been laid out\nfor her of all manner of delicate meats, and threw that into the\nhighway for the dogs to eat. And she emptied the ashes out of the\nleather curtain upon the floor; she let down her hair and cast some\nof the ashes upon her head; she smote her breast and wept; and thus\nshe sat in silence and misery till seven days and nights were\naccomplished.\n\nAnd on the morning of the eighth day, when it was just dawning, and\nthe birds had begun to twitter in the trees of the garden, and the\ndogs to bark at the passers-by, Aseneth raised herself a little from\nher crouching posture among the ashes and turned herself to the\nwindow that looked towards the east. She was faint and ill and weary\nfrom her long fasting and watching; her tongue was dry as horn, her\neyes were glazed, and her fair face was haggard. She bent her head\ndown and clasped her hands together, and crouched down again among\nthe ashes, and said to herself, \"It is all over. I have no one to\nturn to now. My father and mother will cast me off, for I have\ndishonoured their gods; they will say, 'Aseneth is no daughter of\nours.' My kindred will hate me, and all the youths whom I have\ndespised and rejected will rejoice at my humiliation; and Joseph\nwill have nothing to say to me because I am a foul worshipper of\nidols. Yet,\" she went on to say, \"I have heard that the God of the\nHebrews is a merciful God, long-suffering and compassionate, not hard\nupon those that have sinned ignorantly, if they are sorry for what\nthey have done. Why should I not turn to Him? Who knows if He will\nnot have pity upon my loneliness and protect me? For they say He is\nthe Father of the fatherless, and cares for those who are in\ntrouble.\" So she rose and knelt upon her knees, with her face turned\ntowards the east, and looked up into heaven and prayed. \"Save me,\"\nshe said, \"from those who are pursuing me, before I am caught by them;\nas a little child when it is frightened runs to its father, and the\nfather stretches out his arms and catches it to his breast, so I flee\nto Thee. I know that Satan, the Old Lion, is hunting me; for he is\nthe father of the gods of Egypt, and I have insulted them and\ndestroyed their images. I have no hope but in Thee. See, I have cast\noff all my beautiful robes and ornaments; I sit here in sackcloth and\nashes; I have fasted and wept these seven days, because I know that\nI have done wrong in worshipping dumb idols, and in speaking\nscornfully against Joseph. But, Lord, I did it in ignorance; save me,\nand above all watch over Joseph, whom I love more than my own life.\nKeep him, Lord, in safety, and let me be his handmaid and his slave,\nif Thou wilt, so that I may minister to him all the days I have to\nlive.\"\n\nMuch more did Aseneth say in her prayer, but it is not written down\nhere. When she had ended, the morning star was just coming up in the\neast, and Aseneth rejoiced when she saw it and said, \"Can it be that\nGod has heard my prayer, and that this star is the herald of the\nlight of the great day?\" Then, in that part of the sky where the star\nwas shining, there opened a little cleft in the heavens, and a bright\nlight shone out of it: so dazzling that she fell on her face upon the\nashes. And in the next instant there stood over her a man who was all\nflashing with light; and he called to her, \"Aseneth, rise up.\" \"Who\ncan this be who calls me?\" she said; \"my door is barred and the tower\nis high. No one can have come into my chamber.\" So she did not look\nup; but the man called to her again, \"Aseneth, Aseneth!\" And at last\nshe answered, \"Here am I, lord: tell me, who art thou?\" He\nanswered, \"I am the Prince of all the army of heaven; rise up and\nstand on your feet, and hear my words.\" Then for the first time she\nlooked at him, and saw that he was in all things like Joseph, with\nroyal robe, and crown and sceptre; but his face, and hair, and hands\nand feet were bright like the sun, and his eyes pierced like\nlightning; and again she was afraid, and fell on her face. But he\nsaid, \"Do not be afraid; hear what I am come to say to you.\"\nThereupon she rose and stood up, weak as she was; and he bade her go\ninto her inner chamber and put off her black robe, and the sackcloth\nand ashes, and bathe herself in clear water, and array herself in the\nnoblest of her robes, and come back to him.\n\nNow when this was done, and she had returned to him, fresh and\nbeautiful as formerly, he spoke kindly to her, and blessed her and\nsaid, \"God has heard your prayer: He has looked upon your sorrow and\ntears, and has forgiven your sin. Be of good cheer, for your name is\nwritten in the Book of Life, and shall no more be blotted out. From\nthis day forth you shall eat the bread of life and drink the cup of\nimmortality, and be anointed with the oil of joy. And a new name\nshall be given you, even the name of the City of Refuge; for as you\nhave come to God for refuge, many shall in like manner come to Him\nthrough your example by repentance. And now, behold, this day I shall\ngo to Joseph, and tell him that which has befallen you, and he shall\ncome to you this very day and make you his bride. Make ready\ntherefore and array yourself in the bridal robe that is laid up in\nyour chamber, and put upon you all your elect ornaments, and prepare\nyourself to meet him.\"\n\nWhen Aseneth heard this joyful news, she fell on her face at the feet\nof the messenger and gave thanks to God; and, said she, \"My lord,\nstay yet a little while, I pray you, and sit upon this couch, and I\nwill set a table before you, and bread, and you shall eat; and I will\nbring you wine old and fragrant, and you shall drink, and so go on\nyour way.\" For she did not know that it was an angel who had come to\nher. And he said, \"I will do so: hasten therefore and make ready.\"\n\nSo first she set before him a table; and as she was going to fetch\nthe bread he said to her, \"Bring a honeycomb also.\" But at this she\nstopped, and was troubled in her mind, for she knew that there was no\nhoneycomb in her store-room. \"Why do you stop?\" said the angel.\n\"Sir,\" she answered, \"let me send a boy to the farm which is near by,\nand he shall fetch you a honeycomb in a moment.\" \"No,\" said he, \"you\nneed only go into your store-room, and you will find one upon the\ntable; bring that to me.\" \"Sir,\" she answered, \"I know that there is\nnone there.\" But he said, \"Go and you will find it.\" She went\ntherefore and found the honeycomb, as he had said; it was large, and\nas white as snow, and full of honey, and the smell of it was as the\nbreath of life. She wondered greatly, but she would not delay, and\nshe brought it out and put it on the table before the angel. Then he\ncalled her to him, and as she moved towards him he stretched out his\nright hand over her head, and again she was afraid, for she saw\nsparks and flashes of fire coming from it, as if it were of heated\niron; so that she gazed upon him earnestly in astonishment. But he\nsmiled and said, \"You are blessed, Aseneth, for you have seen some of\nthe secret things of God; it is of this honeycomb that the angels eat\nin Paradise, and the bees of Paradise have made it of the dew of the\nroses of life in the garden of God; and whosoever tastes it shall not\ndie for ever.\" Then he put forth his right hand and took a piece of\nthe honeycomb, and tasted it, and gave a portion to Aseneth, and she\nate it; and he said, \"Now you have received the food of life, and\nyour youth shall know no old age, and your beauty shall never fade.\"\nAnd again he stretched forth his right hand and drew his finger\nacross the honeycomb from the east side of it to the west, and from\nthe north side to the south, and where his finger touched it there\nwas left a track of the colour of blood. And immediately there came\nout of the honeycomb a multitude of bees. They were white like snow,\nand their wings were purple and scarlet, and they swarmed about\nAseneth and made honey upon her lips. Among them there were some that\nmade as though they would have stung her, but these the angel\nrebuked, and they fell to the ground dead. But after a while the\nangel said to the bees, \"Go to your place,\" and at that they rose up\nin a swarm and flew out of the window and up into the sky. Then he\ntouched with his rod the dead bees upon the floor, and said to them,\n\"Go ye also to your place,\" and they came to life and flew out of the\nwindow, and settled upon the trees in the garden of Aseneth. And for\nthe third time he stretched out his hand and touched the honeycomb\nupon the table, and straightway there burst forth a flame, and\nconsumed the honeycomb--but upon the table it left no mark--and the\nsweet smell of the burning filled all the chamber.\n\nThen said Aseneth, \"Sir, I have seven companions, maidens who have\nbeen brought up with me, and I love them as sisters: may I not call\nthem, and you shall bless them as you have blessed me?\" So she called\nthem in, and made them stand before the angel, and he blessed them;\nand thereafter he said to Aseneth, \"Take away the table.\" And as she\nturned aside to lift it, he was gone. But through the window she saw\nin the sky a chariot and four horses shining like fire, going into\nthe heavens towards the east, and the angel standing in the chariot.\nThen she said, \"Ah, foolish that I am! I knew not that it was an\nangel out of heaven that came into my chamber, and now, behold, he is\ngoing back into heaven to his own place. Pardon me, my lord, and\nspare thy handmaid, for it was in ignorance that I spoke so boldly\nbefore thee!\"\n\nWhile she was still wondering, there came in a messenger and said,\n\"Joseph, the mighty one of God, is on his way hither.\" And\nimmediately Aseneth sent for the steward of the palace and bade him\nprepare a great banquet, and make all things ready; but she herself,\nremembering the words of the angel, went into her inner chamber and\nadorned herself as a bride, in shining robes, and upon her head she\nput a crown of gold which had in the midst, over her forehead, a\ngreat jacinth stone and six other precious stones round it; and she\ncovered her head with a veil of wonderful beauty. Then she called to\none of her maidens, who brought her a basin of pure water, and when\nshe saw the reflection of her face in the water she was astonished at\nthe beauty and freshness and brightness of it. Just then the steward\nof the palace came in to say that all was ready, and he too was\nstruck with amazement at the sight of her, and said, \"Lady, what is\nthe cause of this wonderful beauty? Can it be that the God of heaven\nhas chosen you to be the bride of Joseph, His elect?\" And while he\nwas yet speaking, the sound of Joseph's chariot-wheels was heard\nwithout.\n\nThen Aseneth hastened and went down to meet Joseph, and her seven\nmaidens followed her, and they all stood in the porch of the palace.\nAnd when Joseph saw Aseneth he also marvelled, and said, \"Who art\nthou, maiden?\" And she answered, \"Thy handmaid Aseneth; and I have\ncast away all my idols and they are gone.\" And she went on and told\nhim of the coming of the angel to her. And he rejoiced. Then they\ncame near and embraced one another, and she led him into her father's\nhouse and made him sit on her father's throne; and Joseph said, \"Let\none of the maidens come and wash my feet.\" But Aseneth said, \"No;\nfrom henceforth I am your handmaid: your hands are my hands, your\nfeet are my feet, and your soul is my soul: none other shall wash\nyour feet but I.\" So she compelled him, and washed his feet. And\nafter that he kissed her again, and made her sit down beside him, on\nhis right hand.\n\nAnd as they were talking together, Potipherah and his wife and their\nhousehold entered the palace, having returned from the country; and\nthey were amazed, and rejoiced at the sight of Joseph and Aseneth.\nAnd when they learnt all that had happened, they rejoiced yet more;\nand Potipherah said, \"To-morrow I will call together all my kinsfolk\nand prepare your marriage feast.\" But Joseph said, \"Nay, but I will\nfirst go to Pharaoh and speak to him concerning Aseneth, that I may\ntake her to wife; for he is to me as a father.\"\n\nSo on the next day Joseph departed to see Pharaoh, and forthwith\nPharaoh sent for Potipherah and his wife and Aseneth; and in their\npresence he blessed Aseneth, and joined her hand with the hand of\nJoseph, and crowned them with golden crowns, and made a great feast\nfor them lasting seven days; and all the land of Egypt rejoiced. So\nJoseph and Aseneth were married; and after that two sons were born\nto them, even Ephraim and Manasseh, in the house of Joseph.\n\n\nIII\n\nNow when the seven years of plenty were over, the years of famine\nbegan, and Jacob and his sons came to dwell in Egypt in the land of\nGoshen, as it is told in the Bible. Then Aseneth said to Joseph, \"Let\nme go and see your father and greet him.\" So Joseph brought her to\nJacob, and his brethren met him and did him obeisance at the door of\nthe house, and they entered in. And when they saw Jacob, who was\nsitting upon his bed, Aseneth was struck with amazement at the sight\nof him, for he was noble to look upon. His head was white as snow,\nhis beard was long, flowing over his bosom, his eyes were bright and\nflashing, and his muscles and limbs were those of a giant. And\nAseneth fell on her face before him; and Israel said, \"Is this thy\nwife, my son Joseph? Blessed shall she be of the Most High God.\"\nThen he called her to him, and she fell on his breast and he kissed\nher, and they rejoiced together. After that he inquired of her\nconcerning her parents; and Aseneth told him how an eagle had\nbrought her and laid her upon the altar of the temple of On; and she\nshowed him the swaddling-clothes in which she had been wrapped. And\nJacob knew that they belonged to his own daughter Dinah; and thus it\nwas made known to him that Aseneth was of his own race, and he was\nthe more glad.\n\nAnd when they departed from him, Simeon and Levi accompanied them\nwith the other sons of Leah and Rachel; but the sons of Bilhah and\nZilpah would not go with them, for they hated Joseph. And of all\nJoseph's brethren, Aseneth loved Levi the most, for he was a prophet\nand a seer, and could read the signs of the stars of heaven.\n\nNow it happened that as they were on their way to visit Jacob, the\neldest son of Pharaoh was on the city wall, and he saw Aseneth and\nloved her immediately, and could think of nothing but how he might\nmake away with Joseph and take Aseneth for his own wife. And after a\nfew days he sent secretly to Simeon and Levi, and said to them, \"I\nknow that you are mighty men, and that with your two swords alone you\ndefeated the men of Shechem and overthrew their city. I have sent for\nyou because I wish to make you my friends, and, if you will do what I\nask you, I will give you riches and lands and houses--in a word, all\nthat you can desire. Now what I would have you do is this. You must\nknow that I have been bitterly wronged by your brother Joseph: he has\nmarried Aseneth, who was betrothed to me long ago. Join with me\ntherefore and help me to kill him, and I will take Aseneth to wife,\nand you shall be my brothers. If you refuse, I will slay you.\" And\nwith these words he drew his sword and flourished it at them. At this\nSimeon, who was a man of hot temper, was enraged, and would have\ndrawn his own sword and cut down the prince; but Levi, who could read\nhis thoughts, trod upon his foot and made signs to him to be quiet,\nand whispered, \"Why be angry with this fellow? We are God-fearing\nmen, and must not render evil for evil.\" Then Levi said calmly and\nmildly to Pharaoh's son, \"Why does my lord speak thus to his\nservants? We can do no such wickedness against our brother and\nagainst our God. Let us hear no more such evil words; but, if you\nwill not be persuaded, know that our swords will be drawn against\nyou.\" With that both the brothers drew their swords, and when the son\nof Pharaoh saw them he crouched upon the ground in terror, for they\nflashed like flames of fire and dazzled his eyes. But Levi said, \"Get\nup and do not be frightened: only take care that you say nothing more\nof this kind against our brother Joseph.\" And they went forth from\nhis presence.\n\nBut he could not restrain himself, for he was half-mad with anger and\nfear and with love of Aseneth. And after some days his servants said\nto him, \"Do you know that the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah are at enmity\nwith Joseph and Aseneth? They will do all that you ask of them.\" So\nhe sent for them, for Dan and Gad and Naphtali and Asher, and they\ncame to him in the first hour of the night; and after he had greeted\nthem he sent away his servants, and said to the brethren, \"Listen\nto me. Life and death are before you; choose which you will have:\nwill you die like women or fight like men? I overheard your brother\nJoseph saying to my father Pharaoh, 'Dan and Gad and Naphtali and\nAsher are no brethren of mine; they are the sons of my father's\nhandmaids, and I am only waiting till my father dies to make an end\nof them and their families. It was they who sold me to the\nIshmaelites, and I am going to repay it into their bosom.' And my\nfather said, 'It is well spoken: you have leave to take any of my\nbodyguard and deal with them as you will.'\" Then Dan and Gad and\ntheir brothers were sorely troubled, and they said, \"O sir, help us,\nand we will be your servants for ever.\" And he said, \"I will. Hear me\nnow: this night I will kill my father Pharaoh--for he is the helper\nof Joseph--and do you for your part slay Joseph. Then I will take\nAseneth to wife, and you shall be my brethren and joint heirs with me\nin the kingdom.\" So they said, \"We will do so, and thus it shall be:\nwe heard Joseph say to Aseneth that she should go to-morrow into the\nvineyard, for it is the time of vintage. We therefore will go this\nnight into the bed of the river and hide among the reeds; and do you\ntake with you fifty archers upon horses, and go on before. Then will\nAseneth come and fall into our ambush, and we will kill the men that\nare with her, and she will flee in her chariot and fall into your\nhands, and you shall do to her as seems good to you. As for Joseph,\nwhile he is mourning for Aseneth we will kill him; but first we will\nslay his children before his face.\" And Pharaoh's son rejoiced\ngreatly, and sent them forth with a great body of mighty men, and\nthey went and hid themselves in four companies among the reeds of the\nriver on either side of the road.\n\nYet Naphtali and Asher murmured against their elder brothers Dan and\nGad, saying, \"To what purpose are you conspiring again? Did you not\nsell Joseph for a slave before, and, lo! he is become lord over all\nEgypt? Now therefore, if you imagine evil against him, he will call\nupon God, and fire will come down out of heaven and devour you, and\nthe angels of God will fight against you.\" But their elder brothers\nwere angry and said, \"What then would you have? Are we to die like\nwomen? Not so!\" And the counsel of Naphtali and Asher did not\nprevail with them.\n\nIn the same night the son of Pharaoh rose up and went to his father's\nchamber with intent to slay him, as he had promised; but when he came\nto the door the guards stopped him and said, \"What is my lord's\nwill?\" He said, \"I desire to see my father, for I am going away\nto-morrow to visit my vine-yard which I have newly planted.\" And they\nsaid, \"Your father is ill and has not slept until now, and he gave\nus commandment that no man should come into his chamber, no, not if\nit were his firstborn son.\" So he went away in a rage, and took fifty\narchers with him on horses and went on before, as Dan and Gad had\nsaid.\n\nAseneth also arose early in the morning and said to Joseph, \"Lo, I\ngo to the vineyard as you appointed; but my soul is troubled greatly\nat being parted from you.\" But Joseph said, \"Be of good cheer; the\nLord is with you and will keep you as the apple of an eye. As for me,\nI go to distribute corn to the people of the land, that no man in\nEgypt may perish of hunger.\" So Aseneth went her way; and as she came\nto the place of the ambush by the river, the men that were in hiding\nrushed out upon her, and slew all the guard that were with her, even\nsix hundred soldiers and fifty runners; and Aseneth fled away upon\nher chariot.\n\nNow Levi, though he was afar off, saw in the spirit what was being\ndone--for he was a seer--and told his brethren of the peril of\nAseneth; and they girded every man his sword upon his thigh, and took\nup their shields and their spears and ran swiftly after Aseneth.\n\nAnd as she fled on before, suddenly she saw the son of Pharaoh in the\nway, and the horsemen that were with him. Then was Aseneth in great\nfear, and she called upon the name of her God.\n\nBut Benjamin was in the chariot with her. Now he was a lad of\nnineteen years, beautiful exceedingly, and strong as a lion's whelp.\nAnd when he saw the men, he leapt down from the chariot and caught up\na round stone out of the brook and threw it at the son of Pharaoh,\nand smote him on the left temple, so that he fell from his horse\nhalf-dead.\n\nThen Benjamin leapt up upon a rock by the way-side, and called to the\ndriver of the chariot, \"Give me stones out of the river bed.\" And he\ngave them; and with fifty stones Benjamin slew the fifty archers\nthat were with Pharaoh's son; every stone smote a man on the temples.\n\nMoreover, the sons of Leah, Reuben and Simeon, Levi and Judah,\nIssachar and Zebulun, pursued after the men that had laid wait for\nAseneth, and fell upon them suddenly and cut them to pieces; but the\nsons of Bilhah and Zilpah fled before them, saying, \"We are undone;\nand now, behold, the son of Pharaoh is dead, and all they that were\nwith him. Let us at least slay Aseneth and Benjamin, and flee into\nthe woods.\" So they pursued after Aseneth, and came upon her with\ntheir swords drawn and dripping with blood. And she was greatly\nafraid, and said, \"Lord God, who didst save me from false gods and\nfrom the corruption of death, and didst say, 'Thy soul shall live\nfor ever,' save me now from the hands of these wicked men!\" And God\nheard her prayer, and straightway the swords of the men fell out of\ntheir hands and crumbled into dust.\n\nThen they were very sore afraid, saying, \"The Lord fighteth against\nus.\" And they fell down on their faces and besought Aseneth, saying,\n\"We have imagined evil against you, and the Lord hath brought it\nback upon us. But now have pity upon us, and save us from the wrath\nof our brethren.\" And she said, \"Go then and hide yourselves in the\nreeds until I appease them and turn away their anger. Only the Lord\nbe judge betwixt me and you.\" Then they ran and hid among the reeds;\nand their brethren the sons of Leah came running like harts to\novertake them. And Aseneth lighted down from her chariot and fell on\ntheir necks weeping and rejoicing; and they said, \"Where are our\nbrothers the sons of the handmaids?\" that they might kill them. But\nAseneth said, \"I beseech you, spare them, for the Lord saved me out\nof their hands and broke their swords, and, behold, there they lie,\nlike wax melted before the fire. Let it suffice you that the Lord\nhath fought against them on our behalf, and spare them, for they are\nyour brethren and the sons of your father Israel.\" Then said Simeon,\n\"Why doth our sister say so? Nay, but we will hew them in pieces\nwith our swords, for they have done evil against Joseph and against\nour father and against thee also this day.\" And Aseneth took hold\nupon Simeon's beard and kissed him, and said, \"Do not, my brother, in\nanywise render evil for evil: the Lord shall judge between us; and\nnow, see, they are fled afar off. Forgive them, therefore, and spare\ntheir lives.\" Then Levi came near and kissed her right hand; for he\nknew that his brethren were in hiding among the reeds, but he would\nnot reveal it to the others lest they should fall upon them; and he\nloved Aseneth because she would save them alive.\n\nNow the son of Pharaoh, who was fallen from his horse, began to\nrecover himself, and sat up and spat blood out of his mouth, for the\nblood ran down from the wound on his temple into his mouth. And\nBenjamin saw it, and ran and drew the sword of the son of Pharaoh\n(for as yet Benjamin bare no sword upon his thigh), and would have\nslain him; but Levi hasted and caught his hand, saying, \"It is not\nright for us that fear God to trample upon him that is fallen, or to\nafflict our enemy to death. Put back the sword into its place and\nhelp me, and we will tend his wound, and if he lives he shall be our\nfriend.\" Then Levi helped up the son of Pharaoh from the ground, and\nwashed the blood from his face and bound up his wound with a bandage,\nand put him upon his horse and took him to Pharaoh his father, and\ntold him all that had happened. And Pharaoh rose up from his throne\nand blessed Levi. But on the third day after, the son of Pharaoh died\nof his wound.\n\nAnd Pharaoh mourned sore for his firstborn son, insomuch that he fell\nsick and died, being a hundred and nine years old, and left his crown\nto Joseph; and Joseph reigned alone in Egypt forty and eight years,\nand thereafter gave the kingdom to the younger son of Pharaoh, who\nwas a sucking child when his father died. And thenceforth Joseph was\ncalled the father of the king throughout all the land of Egypt.\n\n\n\n\nJOB\n\n\nThis is the story of the life of Job, taken out of the book called\nThe Testament of Job.\n\nThere came a day when Job felt that his end was near; and he called\ntogether his seven sons and his three daughters, and said to them:\n\nCome near to me, my children, and I will tell you the story of my\nlife, and all the dealings of the Lord with me. You must know, in the\nfirst place, that before He gave me a new name, I was called Jobab;\nand that I come of the family of Isaac--for I am one of the sons of\nEsau, Jacob's brother. Now, long ago, I used to dwell hard by the\ntemple of an idol, and every day I saw people coming and bringing\nofferings, and burning sacrifices before it. But as time went on, I\ncould not believe that this idol was indeed the God who made the\nheavens, and the earth, and the sea, and us men. I pondered much,\ntherefore, upon this matter, saying, \"How shall I come to know the\ntruth of it?\"\n\nThereafter, as I lay upon my bed, in the middle of the night, a bright\nlight suddenly shone in my chamber, and I heard a voice calling me,\n\"Jobab, Jobab!\" (and I answered, \"Here am I\"). And the voice said, \"Rise\nup, and I will tell thee that which I have to say. Verily, this idol to\nwhom offerings are brought, and wine poured out in libations, is not a\ngod, but is a work of the evil power whereby he deceives the sons of\nmen.\" Then I bowed myself down and said, \"Lord, who hast come to\nenlighten my soul, I beseech thee, give me leave to go and cleanse this\nplace that is polluted by the enemy, so that offerings shall no more be\nmade to him; but, indeed, who is there that can withstand me, seeing\nthat I am ruler over this country?\"\n\nThe voice answered me out of the light, \"Thou canst indeed destroy\nthat place; but I must forewarn thee of that which will ensue,\naccording as I have in hand to tell thee from the Lord.\" And I\nanswered, \"All that He commandeth thy servant will I hear and do.\"\nAnd the voice said again, \"If thou takest upon thee to destroy this\nabode of Satan's, he will rise up and fight against thee; he will\nbring upon thee many plagues; he will take away all thy gods; he will\nslay thy children. Only he will not be able to take thy life. And, if\nthou endurest to the end, thy name shall become famous among all\ngenerations for ever; and I will restore thee to thy former estate,\nand recompense thee double, and thou shalt rise up again in the\nresurrection of the just. Be thou therefore like a fighter who giveth\nblows and endureth them, looking to win the crown of victory; and\nthen shalt thou know that the Lord is righteous, and true, and\nmighty, giving strength to His chosen.\"\n\nAnd I, my children, answered him, \"I will verily endure even unto\ndeath, and will not draw back.\" Then the angel set a mark upon my\nforehead, and departed from me; and in the same night I arose and\ngathered to me fifty of my servants, and went and destroyed the\ntemple of the idol, laying it even with the ground. Then I returned\nto my house, and commanded that the doors should be made fast.\n\nHearken now, my children, and wonder; for as soon as I had come into\nmy house, and had commanded the doors to be shut, and had told the\nkeepers of the doors to say to any that came that I was not at\nleisure to see them, Satan came, having put on the appearance of a\nbeggar, and said to the maid that kept the door, \"Tell Job that I\ndesire to speak with him.\" She came to me, therefore, and I told her\nagain, \"Tell him that I have no leisure to see him.\"\n\nSo Satan departed, and took on him another form, and put a wallet on\nhis shoulder, and returned and said to the maid, \"Say to Job, 'Give\nme bread from thine own hand, that I may eat.'\" Then I took a loaf\nthat was burnt black and gave it to the maid to give to him, saying,\n\"Look to eat no more of my bread, for I am become a stranger to you.\"\nBut the maid was ashamed to give him the burnt bread, for she knew\nnot who he was; she took, therefore, a good loaf of her own and gave\nit to him. But he was aware of what had happened, and said to her,\n\"Go back, unfaithful servant, and fetch me the bread that was given\nto you to give to me!\" And she wept and said, \"You say well that I\nam an unfaithful servant, for I have not done that which I was\ncommanded.\" Then she brought him the burnt bread, saying, \"Thus says\nmy master, 'You shall eat no more of my bread, for I am estranged\nfrom you. This I give you only that you may not have it to say that I\nrefused to give aught to my enemy when he asked of me.'\" Satan took\nthe bread, and sent back the maid with this message, \"As this bread\nis burnt and blackened, so will I make thy body; in one hour I will\nlay thee and thy house desolate.\" And I answered him, \"That thou\ndoest, do quickly; for I am ready to bear whatsoever thou canst bring\nupon me.\"\n\nThen Satan went up straightway under the firmament of the heaven, and\nasked of the Lord authority over me and my possessions. And the Lord\ngranted it to him, but not at that time.\n\nNow I must tell you, my children, of my manner of life, and my goods\nthat I had, before I was despoiled. I had 130,000 sheep, of which\n7000 were set apart for the clothing of the fatherless, and widows,\nand poor; and a pack of 800 dogs guarded them. I had 9000 camels;\n3000 to traffic with the cities of the earth, which I laded with good\nthings, and sent them out among the towns and villages, and had their\nloads distributed to the poor. I had also 130,000 asses; 500 of them\nwere set apart that their foals might be sold, and the price given to\nthe poor.\n\nAlso the four gates of my house were always left open to this end,\nthat if any poor man came to beg, and saw me sitting at one of the\ngates, he might not turn back abashed, but might go round to another\nof the gates, and enter in and receive what he needed.\n\nWithin the house also I had always thirty tables ready prepared for\nthe entertainment of strangers, and other twelve tables appointed for\nthe widows. None left my house with his purse empty, and whenever any\ncame to ask help, he was constrained first of all to sit down and\ndine. I had fifty bakehouses, and of these, twelve served the tables\nof the poor.\n\nAnd so it was that many strangers came to my house, and some of them\ndesired to follow my way of life and minister to the poor, but they\nwere in need of money to furnish them therefor. And to such men I\nfreely lent the money, taking no security of them, but only a written\nacknowledgment. And sometimes they prospered in their merchandise and\ngained money to give to the poor; but sometimes they failed and came\nback to me, saying, \"Have patience with us.\" And thereupon I would\ndestroy the bill of their debt before them, and forgive them that\nwhich they owed me.\n\nSometimes also there would come to me a man of a kindly heart who\nwould say, \"I have not wherewith to help the poor, but let me wait\nupon them to-day at your table.\" And at evening, when he was\ndeparting, I used to say to him, \"I know that you are a labouring\nman, and look to your wages.\" And so I paid him wages for the day and\nlet him go.\n\nI had also psalteries and a ten-stringed lute, and every day when the\nwidows and the poor had dined I would play to them and put them in\nmind of God, that they should praise Him. And if ever my handmaidens\nmurmured at the work they had to do, I took a psaltery and sang to\nthem of the recompense of the reward. And they were comforted, and\nceased from their murmuring.\n\nAs for my children, they took part every day in the ministry, and\nafter that they gathered together in the house of their eldest\nbrother, and feasted there. But every morning I offered up sacrifices\nfor them, even thirty doves, fifty kids of the goats, and twelve\nsheep, and a choice bullock. All of these, after I had offered up\nprayer, I caused to be prepared for the poor, and gave to them,\nsaying, \"Take these over and above that which you have had, and pray\nfor my children, lest they perchance have said in their hearts,\n'We are the children of a wealthy father, and these goods are ours.\nWherefore should we wait upon the poor and waste our substance in\nthis manner?'\" For indeed pride is an abomination unto the Lord.\n\nNow this was my manner of life for seven years after that the angel\nhad come to me. But when Satan had obtained from the Lord power\nagainst me, he came down in great wrath; and first he burnt up the\n7000 sheep, and 3000 camels, and 500 asses, and 500 yoke of oxen; and\nthe rest were carried away by the men of the country to whom I had\nshowed kindness, but now they turned against me and spoiled my goods.\nThen one came and told me, and I gave glory to God, and said not a\nword of complaint.\n\nSatan therefore, when he saw how I took the matter, devised yet more\nagainst me, and took on him the likeness of the King of Persia, and\ncame and spake to all the worthless men of the country, saying, \"This\nman Jobab, who hath consumed all the good of the land, and left\nnothing, giving it away to the halt, and maimed, and blind, is the\nsame that destroyed the temple of the great god and laid waste the\nplace of offerings. It is time that he should receive the reward of\nhis deeds. Come, fall upon him and spoil his house.\" But they said,\n\"He hath seven sons and three daughters; what if they escape into\nother lands and accuse us of violence, and return and slay us?\"\nSatan answered, \"Trouble not yourselves for that. See, I have\nconsumed part of his goods with fire; other part have I carried off.\n_I_ will take in hand his children.\"\n\nAnd he departed, and cast down the house upon my sons and daughters,\nand slew them all. And when the men saw that he had spoken truth,\nthey came and plundered all that was in my house. Mine eyes saw\nworthless and dishonourable men on my couches and at my tables, and I\ncould not utter a word, for I was stricken weak, as a sick woman.\nNevertheless, I remembered the recompense of the reward; and I\naccounted the loss of my goods as nothing, if I might attain to that\ncity whereof the angel had spoken.\n\nThen there came a messenger and told me, \"Thy sons and thy daughters\nare dead.\" And verily I was greatly troubled, and rent my clothes.\nYet I said, \"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it\npleased the Lord, so is it come to pass: blessed be the name of the\nLord.\"\n\nSo Satan perceived that, though all that I had possessed was taken\nfrom me, nothing could break my spirit or make me rebel against God.\nHe departed, therefore, and asked leave of the Lord that he might\nafflict my body. And the Lord gave him power over my body to use it\nas he would, but over my life He gave him no power. Then Satan came\nto me as I sat upon my throne mourning for the loss of my children;\nand he came in the form of a great whirlwind, and cast my throne down\nto the ground, so that I lay for three hours without moving. And he\nsmote me with a sore plague from head to foot, and I was filled with\nworms and ulcers and corruption. Therefore I arose and went out of\nthe city in great misery and sorrow of heart, and sat upon a\ndunghill, being severed from the sons of men because of my evil\nplague. And there I remained many days. And I had no strength to work\nand earn my bread, so that my wife was compelled to labour as a\nhandmaid in the house of a rich man, and carry water; and for that\nthey gave her bread, and she brought it to me. Then was I cut to the\nheart, and said, \"Alas for the pride of the men of this place! How\ncan they endure to treat my wife as a slave?\" Yet after that again\nI strengthened my soul and was patient.\n\nAfter some time they refused to give my wife food enough for her and\nmyself, but allowed her only half of what they had given her before:\nyet this she shared with me. Yea, she was not ashamed to go and beg\nof the bakers in the market-place, that she might have wherewith to\nfeed me.\n\nWhen Satan saw her do so, he took upon him the likeness of a seller\nof bread. And my wife came and begged of him, supposing him to be a\nman; and Satan said, \"Pay the price, and take what you will.\" But she\nanswered, \"Whence should I have money? Have you not heard of all that\nhas befallen us? If you will show mercy, show mercy; and if not, it\nis your own concern.\" He said, \"If you had not deserved misfortune,\nI suppose it would not have come upon you; but now, if you have no\nmoney, give me the hair of your head, and take three loaves in\nexchange: it may be that you can live on them for three days.\" And\nshe thought within herself, \"What is the hair of my head to me in\ncomparison with the hunger of my husband?\" And she said to Satan,\n\"Come, take it.\" And he took a pair of shears and cut off her hair,\nand then gave her three loaves, in the sight of all who were in the\nmarket-place. She took the bread and came to bring it to me, and\nSatan followed after her invisibly, and made her soul heavy within\nher. So, as she drew near to me she lifted up her voice and cried\naloud, \"Job, Job, how long wilt thou sit upon the dunghill waiting\nand expecting thy deliverance, while I wander about from house to\nhouse and labour as a slave? Behold, my sons and my daughters, whom\nI brought up with labour and pain, are perished and gone, and thou\nsittest under the open heaven filled with corruption, and I have to\nwork day and night to get bread to keep thy soul in thy body. Lo, now\nhave I sold the hair of my head for bread. Who would believe that I\nam Sitis, the wife of Job, who was clothed in fine linen woven with\ngold, that washed her feet in basins of silver and gold, that lay\nsoftly and was nurtured in plenty; but now I go barefoot, in rags,\nand sell my hair for bread. One thing only remains, for my bones are\nbroken with very weariness of spirit. Arise and eat this bread, and\nsatisfy thy hunger, and then speak a word against the Lord, and die;\nand I shall be freed from my misery and labour, and have rest.\"\n\nBut I answered her, \"Lo, now these many years have I been set in the\nplague, enduring sickness of body and grief of heart, but my soul has\nnever been so heavy in me as when I heard thee say, 'Speak a word\nagainst the Lord, and die.' Shall we have borne the loss of our\npossessions, and the death of our children, and at the end lose the\ntrue riches? Remember all the good things which we enjoyed aforetime.\nShall we receive those at the hands of the Lord, and not bear to\nreceive hard things likewise? But I perceive now why thou so\nspeakest. Come forth, thou that standest behind her to pervert her\nheart and make her speak as one of the foolish women. Hide thyself no\nlonger; come forth and withstand me to the face.\" Then Satan came\nforth from behind my wife, and stood before me ashamed, and even\nweeping in the bitterness of his heart; and he said, \"Job, thou hast\nprevailed: thou art flesh and I am a spirit, but I can do no more\nagainst thee.\" And he departed from me in confusion. And I, my\nchildren, thought of fighters whom I had seen: one had thrown the\nother on the ground and filled his mouth with sand, and bruised every\nlimb of his body, yet still he kept his hold; and of a sudden the one\nthat was uppermost could endure the grip no longer, and gave in, so\nthat the undermost won the crown. Thus was it with me and Satan; and,\nmy children, I counsel you to be long-suffering in all that may come\nupon you; for there is nothing that is stronger than patience.\n\nNow it was not until many years had passed that the tidings of my\naffliction came to the ears of the kings who were of old time my\nfriends--for Satan caused the matter to be kept from them. But when\nthey heard, they set forth from their countries and came to visit me,\neven Eliphaz of Teman, and Bildad, and Zophar, and Elihu; all of them\nwith great trains of followers. When they were come into my land they\ninquired, \"Where is Jobab, the ruler of Uz?\" And it was told them,\n\"He sitteth upon a dunghill without the city.\" And they asked what\nwas become of my wealth--for I was aforetime richer than all the\nprinces of the East--and they were informed of all that had befallen\nme. So they came where I was, and some of the men of the city with\nthem, who showed me to them. But they said, \"This is not Jobab.\" Yet\nthe men of the place affirmed that it was so; and after they had\ndisputed for some time, Eliphaz called to me, \"Art thou Jobab, our\nfellow-king?\" And I, weeping and casting dust upon my head, bowed\nmyself in token that it was I.\n\nThen were they stricken with great astonishment and terror, and fell\nto the ground as it were dead; and they rent their clothes and cast\noff their armour, and sat down upon the ground. And Elihu lifted up\nhis voice and took up a lamentation over me, calling to mind all the\nglory of my former state, my sheep and oxen, camels and asses, my\ngolden beds and my jewelled throne, the lamps and perfumes of my\npalace, and the beauty of my children, and saying, \"Where is now the\nglory of thy kingdom?\" And when he had ended his lamentation I said,\n\"Hold your peace and I will tell you.\"\n\n\"My throne is in the region beyond the world, and the glory and\nbeauty of it is at the right hand of the Father.\n\n\"This world shall pass away and the glory of it shall perish, and\nthey that pay heed thereto shall be overwhelmed in the overthrow of\nit; but my throne is in the land of the holy, and the glory of it in\nthe age that hath no change.\n\n\"The rivers shall be dried up, and the abundance of their streams\nfloweth down into the depths of the pit; but the rivers of my land\nfail not, and their streams water it for evermore.\n\n\"Kings shall pass away, and rulers be no more seen: their names and\ntheir boasting shall be as the image in the glass; but my kingdom\nabideth for ever, and the glory thereof is as the glory of the\nchariot of the Most High.\"\n\nThen Eliphaz waxed very wroth, and said, \"Come, and let us leave him\nto his folly. To what purpose have we journeyed hither to comfort\nhim, if he rails against us and says, 'Your kingdom shall be brought\nto nought, but mine endureth for ever'?\" And he would have gone\naway in a rage. But Bildad restrained him, saying, \"Remember that the\nman is sick in body and mind; we should not deal harshly with him; it\nmay well be that he is mad.\" And Bildad and Zophar put questions to\nme to discern whether I was of sound mind or not, and I answered them\nsoberly. And at last Zophar said, \"What shall be done for thee?\nBehold, we have with us the most skilful physicians that are in our\nkingdoms. Wilt thou that they shall tend thee? Peradventure thou\nmayest find relief at their hands.\" But I said, \"My healing and my\nmedicine shall be from the Lord, who is the Maker of physicians and\nof all their craft.\"\n\nWhile I was yet speaking, there came to us my wife Sitis, clothed in\nrags, and she had escaped by stealth out of the house of her master;\nfor he would have kept her within, fearing that the kings would call\nhim to account for his ill-usage of us. So when she came to us, she\nthrew herself down before Eliphaz and said, \"Rememberest thou,\nEliphaz and thy fellows, how I looked and how I was attired in the\nformer days? Look now and see in what guise I go about.\" And they\nwere cut to the heart and wept, but knew not what to say; only\nEliphaz took off his purple robe and put it about her shoulders. And\nshe besought them, saying, \"I pray you, command your servants to dig\namong the ruins of the house that fell upon our children, and seek\nout their bones that they may be buried and a memorial set up; for\ntill this day we have never been able to do so because of the cost.\nConsider, I beseech you, what I suffer that have lost ten children,\nand not one of them is given to burial.\" So they prepared to dig; but\nI prevented them, and said, \"Labour not in vain; ye will not find my\nchildren, for they have been taken up into the heavens by the King\nthat created them.\" Again they said, \"Who would not say that thou art\nmad? Thy children are taken up into heaven, sayest thou? Show us now\nwhat thou meanest.\"\n\nI said, therefore, \"Raise me up that I may stand on my feet.\" And\nthey took each an arm and raised me, and I stood up and made\nsupplication to the Father, and then said to them, \"Lift up your eyes\nand look towards the east.\" And they looked, and beheld my children\ncrowned with glory in the heavens, and above them the glory of the\nMost High. Which when Sitis my wife saw, she fell upon her face and\nworshipped, and said, \"Now know I that there is remembrance of me\nwith God. I will go now into the city and rest a little, and refresh\nmyself for my labours of the morrow.\" So she went into the city, and\nentered into the stable of the kine that had been hers, and had been\ntaken from her by those that employed her; and she lay down by one of\nthe mangers and slept, having her mind at rest, and so died. And on\nthe morrow her master sought her, and did not find her; and at last\nentering into the stable, he saw her lying dead there, and ran out\nand summoned men to him; and all the city came and saw her lying in\nthe stable, and the beasts standing about her, lowing and making\nlamentation over her. Then they carried her forth and buried her\nbeside the place of the house that had fallen upon her children.\n\nNow as for all the words which Eliphaz, and Bildad, and Zophar, and\nElihu spake with me, and those wherewith I answered them, are they\nnot written in the book for your remembrance? Also ye know how that\nat the last the Lord came and answered me out of the whirlwind, and\nrebuked us. And we made atonement for that which we had said amiss:\nall but Elihu, for into him Satan had entered, and he had spoken evil\nwords against me; wherefore he departed, and made no atonement for\nhis sin.\n\nAlso ye know how the Lord restored to me my former state, and gave me\nthe double of all that I had possessed before; and how I married your\nmother, and she bare me you: seven sons and three daughters, as it\nis this day.\n\nAnd now behold, my sons, I die; and as for you, forget not ye the\nLord, do good to the poor, pass not by the helpless, take not to\nyourselves wives from among the heathen.\n\nMoreover, Job said, \"I will divide my substance among you, and each\nof you shall possess his portion in peace.\"\n\nThen Job divided his substance among his seven sons, but to his\ndaughters he gave none of it; and they were grieved, and said,\n\"Father, are we not also thy children?\" And he answered, \"Trouble not\nyourselves, for I have prepared for you an inheritance better than\nthat of your brethren.\" And he called to him his eldest daughter, and\ngave her his signet-ring, saying, \"Go into the treasure-chamber and\nbring me the three golden caskets which you will find there.\" And\nwhen she had brought them, he opened them, and took from them three\ncords, and gave one to each of his daughters. Now these cords were\nexceeding beautiful, of many colours, and sending forth sparks of\nlight as it had been rays of the sun; and he said to his daughters,\n\"Gird them about you, and keep them all the days of your life.\"\n\nBut Keziah, the second of the daughters, said, \"Father, is this that\nexcellent inheritance which you promised to us? What is the use of\nthese cords? Shall we be able to live by means of them?\" And he\nanswered, \"Not only so, but they will bring you even into the better\nlife. Know ye not, my children, what is the worth of these cords?\nThese are they which the Lord gave me on the day when He had mercy on\nme and healed me of my sickness; for He gave them to me, and said to\nme, 'Rise up, gird thy loins like a man, and I will inquire of thee\nand thou shalt answer Me.' And I put them about me, and straightway\nall my sores and plagues fell away from me, and my body was\nstrengthened as if I had never been sick; and, moreover, I forgot\nall my pain and sorrow of heart. Now therefore, my children, so long\nas ye have these about you, the enemy can do nothing against you; no,\nnot even to put into your minds evil thoughts. Arise, then, and gird\nyourselves with them before I die.\"\n\nThen they did so, and their hearts were changed and renewed within\nthem, so that they forgot the things of this world, and began to\nspeak in the language of the angels, singing praises to the Lord of\nthe heavens, and telling of the glory of that place and of the mighty\nworks of the Father. And I, Nahor, the brother of Job, who wrote this\ntestament, sat by and heard them; and that which I could I wrote down\nin a book, to be for them that come after, that they might know\nsomewhat of the wonders of the Lord.\n\nNow after three days wherein Job kept his bed--yet without pain or\nsickness, for no disease had power over him since the day when he put\non that heavenly girdle--after three days, I say, he was aware of\nthose that were coming to bear away his soul. And he arose, and gave\nto his eldest daughter a harp, and to the second a censer, and to the\nthird an instrument of music, that they might welcome those that were\non their way. And even as they took them into their hands they saw\nthe chariots of light approaching; and they uttered hymns of praise\nand thanksgiving, each one in the language of them that dwell in the\nholy places. Then He that sat in the great chariot came near and took\nthe soul of Job, embracing it in His arms in the sight of his\ndaughters; but no man else saw that sight. And He took it into the\nchariot and departed towards the sunrising.\n\nAnd after three days we made ready the body of Job to the burial; and\nall the widows, and the fatherless, and the helpless came about us,\ncrying and saying, \"Woe unto us this day, woe unto us! He that was\nthe strength of the weak, the light of the blind, the father of the\nfatherless, the home of the homeless, is taken from us.\" And they\nwould not that his body should be hidden out of their sight. But when\nwe carried him to the sepulchre, his three daughters went before,\ngirded with the heavenly girdles, and giving glory to God in hymns\nand psalms of thanksgiving. And we laid him in the tomb as it were\nsleeping a fair sleep; and verily he left after him a name that\nshall be famous and renowned in all generations.\n\n\n\n\nSOLOMON AND THE DEMONS\n\n\nIn an ancient Greek book called The Testament (that is, the Last\nWords) of Solomon, the story is told of the way in which Solomon\novercame the demons and made them serve him. The tale is put into the\nmouth of the king himself.\n\nWhen I was engaged upon the building of the temple in Jerusalem,\nthere was a lad, the son of the foreman of the builders, of whom I\ntook notice, for he was a clever workman. Indeed, so skilful was he\nthat I increased his wages and his allowance of food above the rest.\nYet in spite of that, as I saw him by day, I noticed that he was\nbecoming thin and weak and pale. So one day I called him and asked\nhim whether anything was the matter with him. At first he would not\ntell me, but when I pressed him he said, \"I know not whether you will\nbelieve it, O king, but a strange thing has been afflicting me. Every\nnight when I go to my bed, something comes and sucks my right thumb,\nand, moreover, it steals away my food; and I feel that it is taking\naway all my strength, and I believe that it is an evil spirit.\" When\nI heard that, I went back to my palace, and thought earnestly, and\nconsulted the writings of the ancients; and I prayed that a way might\nbe shown to me how I could set the lad free from the power of the\ndemon. And after some days there came to me an angel, and brought me\na ring with a stone in it, on which was cut the figure that is called\nthe Pentalpha and within it the Name that may not be spoken; and he\ntold me what I must do with it. On the morrow, therefore, I sent for\nthe lad and gave him the ring, saying, \"Take this, and to-night, when\nthe creature comes, you must cast the ring into its bosom, and say,\n'In the strength of the Name, King Solomon calleth thee.' Then rise up\nand come running to me, and be not afraid for whatever the demon may\nsay to you.\"\n\nSo that night at the accustomed hour the wicked demon Ornias came to\nthe lad's chamber, with intent to suck his blood and take away his\nfood. But the lad remembered my words, and cast the ring upon the\ndemon, saying, \"Come, for Solomon calleth thee,\" and set off at once\nto my palace. But the demon shrieked out after him, \"Boy, what hast\nthou done? Take the ring from me, and I will give thee the hidden\ngold of the earth; take it off, and bring me not before Solomon!\" But\nthe lad took no heed; and running into the palace, he called to me,\n\"O king, I have brought the spirit, as you told me; he is there\nbefore the door, screaming and entreating me and promising me the\nhidden treasures of the earth if I will not force him to come to\nyou.\" Then I rose up from my throne and went out into the court of\nthe palace, and saw the creature, in the form of a flame of fire,\nquivering and shrinking; and I stood over it, and said, \"What is thy\nname?\" And it answered, \"Ornias.\" And I bade Ornias reveal to me, in\nthe strength of the ring, how I should make him subject to me; and he\ntold me where his abode was, and how he afflicted men, and all that I\nasked him. Then I sealed him with the seal of the ring, and appointed\nhim to hew stones for the building of the temple.\n\nThereafter, when I had considered what I should do, I called for\nOrnias, and delivered the ring to him, and bade him bring before me\nBeelzebul, the prince of all the demons. So Ornias went to Beelzebul,\nand found him sitting upon his throne, and said, \"Solomon calleth for\nthee.\" And Beelzebul said scornfully, \"Who is this Solomon of whom\nthou speakest?\" And Ornias cast the ring into the bosom of\nBeelzebul, and said again, \"Solomon calleth for thee.\" And at that\nBeelzebul uttered a mighty roar, and cast forth from his mouth a\ngreat flame of fire; but he must needs rise up from his throne and\nfollow Ornias, and stand before me. And when I saw him, I gave thanks\nto the Most High, who had given me power over the demons. And I spoke\nroughly to him; and he promised to bring before me all the demons,\nand that they should be subject to me, and do all that I commanded\nthem. And I appointed him to saw blocks of marble in pieces for the\nwork of the temple; but when the other demons saw their lord and\nmaster labouring like a slave, they shrieked aloud and were sorely\ndismayed.\n\nAfter that I sent for many of the chief of the demons, one by one,\nand questioned them concerning their deeds, what diseases they sent\nupon men, and what secret things they knew, and how they were to be\nsubdued; and when they had told me, I bound them, and set them to\nwork upon the building of the temple.\n\nNow the shapes in which they appeared before me were manifold: one\nwas like a beautiful woman, but she had one foot like an ass's hoof;\nand another like a man without a head, and a flame of fire coming out\nof his neck; another like a great dog. These two I bound together,\nand the dog kept watch over the headless man, and the flame of fire\nthat came from his neck gave light to the workmen by night. There\nwere also dragons, one with three heads, and one with the head of a\nman. Another had a face that shone with a green light, and hair like\nserpents, but the rest of his body was darkness; and yet another was\na dark man with shining eyes, and a drawn sword in his hand, who said\nthat he was the spirit of one of the old giants who perished in the\ndays of the flood. And of some I saw no shape, but only heard a\nvoice. But over all of them I had dominion, and I appointed them\ntasks. Some I made to carry water to the builders, and some made\nropes; others melted the gold and silver, and others lifted the\nstones. So the temple was built speedily, and I, Solomon, enjoyed\ngreat honour and peace and tranquillity in my kingdom, and the kings\nand princes of all the regions round about came to visit me, and\nbrought me precious gifts; and my kingdom was greatly exalted.\n\nNow in those days, as I was sitting on my throne in the midst of my\npalace (and Ornias the demon was standing by me), there came before\nme an old man, one of my workmen, and cast himself down before me,\nand cried to me to do him justice against his son; for his son\nill-treated him and beat him and plucked out his hair. When I heard\nthat, I had pity on him, for he was an old man, and weak; and I sent\nfor his son, and asked him why he dealt so with his father. But the\nson denied it, saying, \"I am not so given over to wickedness that I\nshould strike my father. Be it far from me, O king: I have done no\nsuch evil.\" I sent him away, therefore, and called his father again,\nand bade him be reconciled with his son; but he said, \"Nay, but let\nhim die the death.\" Wherefore I was perplexed, and it was in my mind\nto give sentence against the young man; but it happened that I\nlooked at Ornias the demon, and I saw that he was laughing. So I sent\nthe people away, and said to Ornias, \"Accursed one, why dost thou\nlaugh at me?\" He answered, \"Forgive me, O king; it was not at\nthee that I laughed, but at this wretched old man: because he is\ncontriving an evil death for his son, and, lo! in three days his son\nwill fall sick and die.\" Then said I, \"Is this the truth?\" And he\nsaid, \"It is.\" Then I sent for the old man and his son, and said to\nthem, \"Strive to make agreement between yourselves, and after three\ndays come again to me; and in the meantime I will send you your food\nfrom my table.\" And they did obeisance and departed. And when the\nthree days were past, I saw the old man come into the judgment-hall;\nand he was dressed in garments of mourning, and his face was sad. I\nsaid therefore to him, \"Where is thy son?\" And he answered, \"I\nhave no son: this day have I carried him to his burial.\"\n\nSo when he was departed, I said to Ornias, \"How was it that thou\nknewest these things?\" And he answered, \"It is thus, O king. We who\nare spirits can fly up into the air under the firmament, and we hover\nabout among the stars and overhear the decrees that go forth from the\nheavens against the children of men when they are appointed to die.\nBut we cannot abide there for long, and so we become weak, and fall\nlike the leaves from the trees; and when men see us they say, 'Look,\nthere is a falling star.' But they are not in truth stars that fall,\nsince the stars have their appointed place in the heavens, like the\nsun and the moon; but it is we, the spirits of the air, who are in\nappearance like stars.\" And I sent Ornias away, and marvelled\ngreatly.\n\nAgain, in those days there came to me a letter from Adares the king\nof the Arabians, saying, \"To King Solomon, greeting! We have heard of\nthe wisdom that has been given to thee, and that thou art a\ncompassionate man, and that thou hast power over all spirits that are\nin the air, or on the earth, or under the earth. Now be it known to\nthee that there is a destroying spirit in this land; for every day at\ndawn there arises a wind which blows for three hours, and it is so\nvenomous that every one on whom it blows dies, and it kills the\ncattle also. Now therefore we entreat thee in thy wisdom to devise\nsome means, and if it may be, send us a man who can capture the\nspirit; and if thou canst do so, then I and my people will be\ntributary unto thee, and Arabia shall keep peace with thee. And, we\nbeseech thee, make not light of our petition, for we are in a great\nstrait. And so farewell.\"\n\nWhen I had read this letter, I folded it up again and gave it to my\nchief counsellor, saying, \"Bring it again to my remembrance after\nseven days.\" Then I thought upon the matter; and after the seven days\nI called one of my servants and said to him, \"Make ready a camel,\nand get an empty wine-skin.\" And he did so. Now the wine-skin was\nmade of a whole hide of a beast, so that it had the upper parts of\nthe four legs remaining upon it, the legs being sewn up, and the neck\nopen. I said to him further, \"Take this ring and go into Arabia, to\nthe place where the venomous wind blows, and take the skin and hold\nthe ring in front of the mouth of the skin towards the wind, so that\nthe wind shall blow through the ring; and when the skin is blown up,\nyou will know that the demon is inside it. Then hasten and tie up the\nneck of the skin, and seal it with the ring, and put it upon the\ncamel, and bring it to me. But if on the way the demon promise you\ngold and silver and treasures to let him go, see that you do not obey\nhim; but rather make him reveal to you where the treasures are hid,\nand mark the places, and come on to me. Now go, and good success be\nwith you.\" So my servant set out and came to Arabia; and the men of\nthe country doubted much whether he could capture the spirit. But\nwhen the day was dawning, even the first day after his coming, he\nrose up and set the skin with its mouth towards the wind, and laid\nthe ring in the mouth of it; and the wind blew through the ring and\nentered into the skin and puffed it up. And the man caught the neck\nof the skin and closed it, and sealed it with the ring in the name of\nthe Most High. Then he abode yet three days in the place to make\ntrial of his success; but the poisonous wind blew no more, so that\nall the Arabians were assured that the demon was safely shut up. And\nthey rejoiced greatly, and gave him many precious gifts, and did him\ngreat honour; and when he set forth to come back to me, they\naccompanied him to their borders. So he brought the skin back to\nJerusalem, and put it in the midst of the temple.\n\nNow at this time I, Solomon, was somewhat troubled, because I had a\ngreat stone made ready to be placed upon the corner of the temple, and\nnone of my workmen and none of the demons were able to lift it and set\nit in its appointed place; but I was exceedingly desirous to put it\nthere, because it was of such beauty and excellence. And on the morning\nafter my servant was come back out of Arabia, I went down to the temple,\nthinking by what means I could lift the stone. And as I entered the\ntemple I saw the skin; and it rose up and hopped seven paces, and fell\non its face and did obeisance to me; and I marvelled, and bade it stand\nup; and it stood on its feet, puffed up with wind. Then I asked, \"Who\nare you?\" And a voice answered me from within the skin, \"I am Ephippas\nwho dwell in Arabia.\" And I said, \"What can you do.\" And it answered, \"I\ncan overturn kings' palaces, and wither the green trees of the wood, and\nI can move mountains.\" Then I said, \"Are you able to move this stone,\nand lift it up and set it upon the corner of the temple?\" And it said,\n\"Not only can I do so, O king, but if I have the demon that is in the\nRed Sea to help me, I can bring up the great Pillar that is there, and\nset it in whatever place you command.\" So I said, \"Lift up the\ncorner-stone.\" And the skin first of all became flattened, as if the\nwind was gone out of it, and slipped itself under the stone; and then it\nblew itself out again so that the stone was lifted up upon its back, and\nit walked upon its stumps, bearing the stone, to the ladder, and climbed\nup and set the stone safely in its place upon the corner of the temple;\nand I was greatly rejoiced, and all Jerusalem with me.\n\nAfter that I sent Ephippas to fetch to me the demon that is in the\nRed Sea, and commanded them to bring with them the great Pillar; and\nafter a while I saw the Pillar being borne through the air, and was\nastonished at the strength of the two demons. And when I considered\nwith myself how mighty they were, and how they could shake the whole\nworld in a moment of time, I feared to let them go; I made therefore\na circle about them in the air with my ring, and said, \"Stay there!\"\nAnd the demons stayed, holding the Pillar sloping between heaven and\nearth; and there they are to this day. And if any one looks, he can\nsee the Pillar sloping in the heavens, but the demons he cannot see.\nBut when they let fall the Pillar, then will be the end of the\nworld.1\n\n1 I believe that the Pillar is the Milky Way: it is certainly meant\nto be one of the constellations.\n\nThen I questioned the demon of the Red Sea and he told me how in old\ntimes he resisted Moses in Egypt, and helped Jannes and Jambres, the\ntwo wizards who fought against Moses; and how when Pharaoh followed\nafter the children of Israel he went with him; and when the sea\nreturned back and drowned the Egyptians, he was overtaken by it and\nshut up in the depths, and he remained there until Ephippas came and\nbrought him to me.\n\nThus I, Solomon, had power over the spirits of the earth, and of the\nair, and of the water, and made them serve me; and my kingdom was\nexalted, and there was peace in my days. But when I became mighty my\nheart was lifted up, and I committed foolishness; for I saw the\ndaughter of a certain Jebusite, and loved her exceedingly, and asked\nfor her in marriage. But her kinsfolk said, \"You shall not take her\nto be your wife except you worship our gods, even the great gods\nRemphan and Moloch.\" Then I said, \"I cannot worship strange gods; why\nwould you that I should do this?\" They said, \"Because they are the\ngods of our fathers.\" And I refused. Then I went to the maiden and\nentreated her; and she also said, \"I will not hearken to you, except\nyou worship my gods.\" So I departed from her. But after a little, she\nsent me five locusts by the hand of a messenger, saying, \"Take these\nfive locusts and crush them in the name of the god Moloch, and I will\nbe your wife.\" And I did so. And forthwith my glory departed from me,\nand I forgot my wisdom, and became weak and foolish in my mind; and\nthe heathen woman compelled me to build temples to the false gods, to\nBaal, and Remphan, and Moloch; and my spirit was darkened within me,\nand I became a byword among men and demons.\n\nTherefore have I written this testament, that men might remember me,\nand think of their latter end as well as of their beginning.\n\n\n\n\nTHE STORY OF EBEDMELECH THE ETHIOPIAN, AND OF THE DEATH\nOF JEREMIAH\n\n\nWhen the time was come when it was ordained that Jerusalem should be\nlaid waste by the king of the Chaldeans, God spake to Jeremiah the\nprophet, saying, \"Depart out of this city, for I am about to destroy\nit for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.\" But Jeremiah\nanswered, \"Suffer me, I beseech thee, Lord, to speak a word.\" And He\nsaid, \"Say on.\" And Jeremiah said, \"Wilt Thou indeed deliver Thy\nchosen city into the hand of the Chaldeans, that their king may boast\nhimself against it and say, 'I have prevailed against the Holy City\nof God'? Not so, Lord; but if it be Thy will to destroy it, overthrow\nit rather with Thine own hand.\" And He said, \"Neither the king nor\nhis power shall prevail to destroy it, unless I first open the gates\nthereof to him. Come therefore at the sixth hour of the night to the\ncity wall, thou and Baruch the scribe, and I will show you what I\nwill do.\" Jeremiah therefore rent his clothes and put ashes upon his\nhead, and went and found Baruch in the temple; and when Baruch saw\nhim he was dismayed, and cried out, \"What is the matter?\" And when\nJeremiah had told him that which was proposed concerning the city, he\nalso rent his clothes; and they remained both of them in the holy\nplace all that day weeping.\n\nBut at the sixth hour of the night they went out and walked upon the\ncity wall. And suddenly they heard the sound of a trumpet in heaven,\nand there came down angels bearing torches of fire in their hands,\nand alighted upon the four corners of the wall of the city. Then\nJeremiah and Baruch perceived that the desolation of Jerusalem was\nindeed at hand; and Jeremiah cried out to the angels, \"I beseech you,\ndestroy not the city until I have spoken a word to the Most High.\" So\nthe angels stayed their hand; and Jeremiah said, \"Lord, now we know\nof a truth that the city will be delivered into the hands of the\nChaldeans; tell us, therefore, what wilt Thou that we shall do with\nthe holy vessels of the temple?\" And he answered, \"Commit them to the\nearth, and say unto it, 'Hear, O earth, the voice of Him that\nseparated thee from among the waters, and sealed thee with seven\nseals unto seven ages, even until the time wherein thou shalt be\nrenewed in beauty: keep these vessels of the sanctuary until the\ncoming of the Beloved.'\" And Jeremiah continued and said, \"I beseech\nThee, show me what I shall do for Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, because\nhe showed me great kindness and delivered me out of the pit wherein\nZedekiah cast me; and I would not have him see the desolation of the\ncity, for it would grieve him to the heart.\" The Lord said, \"Send him\nto the vineyard of Agrippa which is on the other side of the hill,\nand I will shelter him until I bring back the people to the city. And\nas for thee, go thou with thy people to Babylon, and remain there to\ncomfort them until they return hither. And let Baruch abide here\nuntil I send him word.\"\n\nThen he commanded the angels, and they brake down the corners of the\nwall and loosened the foundations, and made weak the fastenings of\nthe gates; and after that a great voice sounded out of the temple,\nsaying, \"Enter, ye enemies, and come in, ye adversaries; for He that\nkept the house hath departed from it.\" And the angels went up again\ninto heaven. But Jeremiah and Baruch went into the temple, and took\nthe vessels of the sanctuary and delivered them to the earth, as they\nwere commanded; and forthwith the earth opened her mouth and\nswallowed them up. And for the rest of that night they wept and\nlamented; and in the morning Jeremiah called for Ebedmelech and said\nto him, \"Take a basket and go to the vineyard of Agrippa, and fetch\nme some figs, that I may give them to the sick and needy among the\npeople; and the blessing of God go with thee.\" And Ebedmelech set\nforth.\n\nOn that same morning the host of the Chaldeans surrounded the city,\nand a trumpet sounded in heaven, and they came against the city; and\nthe gates gave way before them, and the wall fell, and they entered\nthe city and laid it desolate, and took the people captive. But\nJeremiah took the keys of the temple, and went outside the city and\nthrew them up towards the sun, saying, \"O sun, I say unto thee, take\nthese keys and keep them until God shall require them of thee; for we\nare not found worthy to keep them any longer.\" And they vanished out\nof his sight. Then he returned, and the Chaldeans took him prisoner\nand carried him away to Babylon. But Baruch fled, and took refuge in\na tomb, and there he remained in great sorrow of heart.\n\nNow Ebedmelech had gathered the figs, and filled his basket; and by\nthe time he had finished, the day had become burning hot. So he sat\nhim down under a tree to rest a little, and then laid his head on the\nbasket of figs and fell into a slumber. And he slept for sixty-six\nyears without waking.\n\nAnd when the sixty-six years were over, and the time of deliverance\nof the children of Israel was near, Ebedmelech woke up, and said to\nhimself, \"I should have been glad to sleep a little longer, for my\nhead is still heavy; I have not slept my sleep out.\" And he uncovered\nhis basket and looked at the figs, and saw that they were oozing with\njuice; and said again, \"Well, I should like to sleep yet a little,\nbut I am afraid I may oversleep myself; and if I do, father Jeremiah\nwill be disappointed; for if he had not been in haste for the figs,\nhe would not have sent me out so early.\" So he rose and picked up his\nbasket of figs and put it on his shoulder, and went back to\nJerusalem. When he came near the city he could not recognise it, and\nwhen he had entered the gate he could not either find his own house\nor see any of his acquaintance. He said therefore within himself,\n\"Some strange delusion has come upon me; I have missed my way in\ncoming over the hills: it must be that I was not fully awake. This\nwill be a wonderful thing to tell Jeremiah when I meet with him.\" And\nhe went out of the city. But when he looked back upon it, he could\nsee that it was indeed Jerusalem; and he said, \"It is surely the\ncity, yet there is something wrong.\" He went into the city the second\ntime, but he could find none that knew him. And he said, \"God\npreserve me! Verily a delusion has fallen upon me,\" and went outside\nthe city and sat down with the basket of figs, saying, \"Here will I\nsit until my eyes are opened, and I can discern the truth.\" After\nsome time he saw an old man coming from the fields, and said to him,\n\"Old man, what is this city, I pray you?\" The old man said, \"It is\nJerusalem.\" Ebedmelech said, \"Where are Jeremiah the prophet and\nBaruch the scribe?\" The old man answered, \"You are certainly not of\nthis city, that you inquire concerning these men. Jeremiah is in\nBabylon with the people that were carried away captive by\nNebuchadnezzar the king.\" Then Ebedmelech marvelled and said, \"If\nyou were not an aged man, whom it is not lawful to mock, I should\nhave said you were mad. How many hours is it, think you, since\nJeremiah sent me to the garden of Agrippa for some figs for the sick\npeople, and I went and gathered them and slumbered for a little under\na tree, and have just now brought them back; and here they are with\nthe juice oozing from them, just as when I picked them; and you say\nthe people and Jeremiah are gone to Babylon!\" And he opened the\nbasket and showed the figs. And when the old man saw them he said,\n\"Verily, my son, God has had mercy on you. He has spared you from\nseeing the desolation of the city. Behold, to-day it is sixty-and-six\nyears since the people were carried away. And, if you believe not me,\nlook upon the trees and see that it is not the time of figs.\" Then\nEbedmelech asked, \"What then is this month, and what is the day?\"\nAnd he answered, \"It is the twelfth day of Nisan.\" And Ebedmelech\nbelieved, and gave thanks to God; and after that he gave the old man\nsome of the figs, and bade him farewell, saying, \"May God guide thee\nto the Jerusalem which is above.\" And he went to find Baruch.\n\nAnd after a while he found him dwelling in a tomb; and they greeted\none another, and rejoiced, and Ebedmelech told Baruch all that had\nhappened to him, and Baruch marvelled and praised God. Then they\nconsulted how they might send word to Jeremiah at Babylon; for they\nperceived that the time of the return of Israel was at hand. And it\nwas revealed to them that on the morrow at dawn there should come a\nmessenger whom they might send.\n\nOn the morrow, therefore, Baruch rose early and went out of the tomb,\nand saw an eagle sitting upon a rock hard by; and he called to it\nand it came, and spoke with a man's voice, saying, \"I am sent hither\nto bear a message for thee.\" Baruch said, \"Canst thou carry a letter\nto Babylon, to Jeremiah the prophet?\" And the eagle said, \"To that\nend am I sent.\" So they wrote a letter, and took fifteen of the figs\nfrom the basket and hung them on the eagle's neck; and Baruch blessed\nit, saying, \"I say unto thee, O king of the birds, go in peace, and\nbring back an answer to me. Be not like the raven, which Noah sent\nout, and it returned no more to the ark; but be like the dove, which\nreturned the third day with an answer of peace. And if the birds of\nthe air come against thee, fight with them, and the power of God be\nwith thee. Turn neither to the right hand nor to the left, but go\nstraight as an arrow in the strength of the Most High.\"\n\nThen the eagle flew and rested not till it came to Babylon; and there\nit perched upon a tree in a desert place outside the city, and waited\nuntil Jeremiah and some of the people passed by, carrying a dead man\nto burial. And it rose up and lighted upon the bier of the dead man,\nand he revived. And the eagle said to Jeremiah, \"Gather the people\ntogether, and take the letter which is upon my neck, and read it in\ntheir ears.\" And he did so; and the people rejoiced, because the time\nof their deliverance was at hand. Then Jeremiah wrote a letter to\nBaruch, and put it upon the eagle's neck. And he blessed the eagle,\nand sent it away; but the figs he gave to the sick among the people.\nAnd the eagle returned to Jerusalem, and gave the letter to Baruch;\nand when he read it he wept, because Jeremiah had written in it all\nthe afflictions which the people suffered at the hands of the\nChaldeans.\n\nNow when the time was fulfilled, the people were set free from\nBabylon, and returned to Jerusalem. And when they came back, they\nrejoiced and gave thanks for their deliverance for nine days. And on\nthe tenth day Jeremiah stood up before all of them and sang a hymn of\npraise; and when he had ended it, he fell on the ground and became as\none dead. When they saw that, Baruch and Ebed-melech lifted up their\nvoices and wept, saying, \"Our father Jeremiah, the priest of God, is\ndeparted from us!\" And all the people ran together and saw Jeremiah\nlying as dead; and they rent their clothes and bewailed him, and then\nmade ready to bury him. But there came a voice, saying, \"Bury not the\nliving.\" And at that they left off preparing a sepulchre for him, and\nwaited, keeping watch about his body, till he should revive again.\n\nAnd after three days the spirit of Jeremiah returned to him again,\nand he rose up and prophesied; and in his prophecy he said, \"There\nshall be a Tree set up, which shall make the barren trees fruitful,\nand the proud and fruitful trees barren; and the snow shall be turned\nto blackness, and the sweet waters become bitter, and the scarlet\nshall be white as wool. Moreover, He shall bless the isles that they\nshall bear fruit by the word of His mouth; and He shall satisfy the\nhungry souls.\" And thereafter he began to speak to them of the coming\nof the Beloved into the world.\n\nNow when the people heard it they were very angry and said, \"He\nblasphemeth. These are the words that Isaiah spake, and they sawed\nhim asunder with a saw of wood. Let us slay Jeremiah also, but him we\nwill stone with stones.\" And Baruch and Ebedmelech cried out against\nthem, \"Do not this great wickedness!\" But Jeremiah said, \"Be silent,\nfor they shall not kill me before I have delivered to you all that I\nhave seen and heard. Fetch me a great stone.\" And when it was\nbrought, Jeremiah prayed and said, \"O Light of the Ages, cause this\nstone to appear in my likeness.\" And immediately the stone took upon\nit the likeness of Jeremiah, and the people began to stone it,\nbelieving that it was Jeremiah. And in the meantime he went on\nspeaking to Baruch and Ebedmelech until he had committed to them all\nthe mysteries which he had heard while he lay in a trance.\n\nThen he arose and stood forth in the midst of the people, and the\nstone cried out with a loud voice, \"O foolish people, why stone ye\nme, thinking that I am Jeremiah; and behold, he is in the midst of\nyou!\" And their eyes were opened, and they ran upon him and stoned\nhim; and his ministry was accomplished.\n\nBut Baruch and Ebedmelech buried his body; and they took the stone\nand set it up over his grave, and wrote upon it, \"This is the helper\nof Jeremiah.\"\n\n\n\n\nAHIKAR\n\n\nIn the Book of Tobit in the Apocrypha you will find mention in\nseveral places of a man called Achiacharus, who was a relation of\nTobit, In the first chapter (verses 21, 22) you read that he was a\ngreat officer at the court of king Esarhaddon; and at the end of the\nbook (xiv. 10) you may learn something about his story; for Tobit\nsays to his son Tobias, \"Remember, my son, how Aman handled\nAchiacharus that brought him up, how out of light he brought him into\ndarkness, and how he rewarded him again; yet Achiacharus was saved,\nbut the other had his reward, for he went down into darkness,\" Then\nit goes on, \"Manasses gave alms, and escaped the snare that was set\nfor him, but Aman fell into the snare and perished.\"\n\nNow of late years the book has come to light which tells the whole\nhistory of Achiacharus (or Ahikar, as we shall call him), and you\nwill see as you go on that in the Book of Tobit some mistakes have\nbeen made in the names, and that instead of Aman we shall have to\nread Nadan, and instead of Manasses, Achiacharus.\n\nThis is the story of Ahikar. He is made to tell it himself, and he\nsays:\n\nWhen I was a young man I was steward to the great king Esarhaddon,\nthe king of Nineveh. I was rich, and had great estates and beautiful\npalaces; I had everything that my heart desired, except one thing:\nand that was, a son. I had no child to comfort me and to inherit my\ngreat possessions after me.\n\nMany times did I go to the temples of the gods of Nineveh and offer\nthem sacrifices and gifts and burn incense before them; and I said,\n\"O gods, give me a son, that I may enjoy his company while I live,\nand when I die he may close my eyes and bury me. And verily I am so\nrich that if every day from the day of my death until he died he were\nto take a bushel of my money and cast it away, he would not come to\nthe end of it before his death.\" But the gods of Nineveh made me no\nanswer.\n\nThen I bethought me of the God of Israel, of whom I had learned when\nI was a child (for I came out of the land of the Hebrews), and I\nturned to Him and besought Him in like manner that He would grant me\na son. And a voice came to me saying, \"Forasmuch as thou hast put\nthy trust in false gods and sacrificed to them, thou shalt have no\nson. Yet this do: take thy sister's son Nadan, who is a young child,\nand bring him up as thine own son.\"\n\nSo I took Nadan and gave him to eight nurses to bring him up. He was\nfed on all manner of dainties, he was clothed in purple and scarlet,\nand slept on the softest beds. He grew up like a fair young\ncedar-tree; and I instructed him in all my wisdom, until I was sixty\nyears old.\n\nOne day the king Esarhaddon returned from journeying through his\nkingdom, and sent for me and said, \"Ahikar, my friend, my faithful\nand wise counsellor, you are becoming an old man. If you die, who\nshall succeed you and serve me in your place?\" I answered, \"O king,\nlive for ever. There is with me the son of my sister, whom I have\nbrought up as my own son, and have instructed him in all the ways of\nwisdom.\" The king said, \"Go, bring him before me, and if I take\npleasure in him, he shall serve me in your stead, and you can have\nrest from your labours, and joy and honour in your old age.\" So I\nbrought Nadan to the king; and when the king saw him, he delighted in\nhim and said, \"The gods preserve you, my son!\" And to me he said,\n\"As you have served me and my father Sennacherib, so shall this youth\nserve me, and I will honour him and promote him for your sake.\" And I\ngave thanks to the king, and we went out, I and Nadan, from his\npresence. And I took Nadan home and spoke to him in private, telling\nhim how he should conduct himself, and of what men he ought to\nbeware, and whom he should trust. All these precepts are written in\nthe book of Ahikar, but they are not put down here.\n\nNow I hoped that Nadan would pay heed to my words of instruction; but\nwhen the king had exalted him, and taken him to live at the palace\nwith him, I was grieved to see that Nadan began to become wasteful\nand unruly, and that, if I had suffered him, he would have squandered\nmy money and ill-treated my servants. I admonished him, therefore,\nbut it was in vain. He said, \"My uncle Ahikar is getting old and\ntimorous: his wisdom is failing him: one need not pay much heed to\nwhat he says.\" And by degrees I saw that the king began to believe\nNadan, and that he no longer received me with such honour as in the\nold days: and this was a grief to me.\n\nNow as I no longer had Nadan to live with me, I considered, and took\nhis younger brother Nabu-zardan into my house. But when Nadan heard\nof this, he was very angry, for he thought, \"Is this old man going to\nleave all his possessions to my younger brother, and turn me out?\"\nSo he began to think and plot how he might put me out of the way, and\nhimself gain favour with the king.\n\nAnd at last he sat down and wrote certain letters. In the first he\ndeceitfully imitated my handwriting, and sealed it with my seal. It\nwas written in my name to the king of Persia, saying, \"From Ahikar,\nscribe and treasurer to Esar-haddon, king of Assyria, greeting! As\nsoon as thou hast received this letter, set forth with thine host,\nand come to the plain of the south, on the 25th day of this month,\nand I will guide thee to Nineveh, and thou shalt take the city and\npossess the kingdom without any strife or battle.\" This letter he\nleft lying in my chamber in the palace.\n\nThe other was written to me in the king's name, and sealed with his\nseal, \"To Ahikar from Esarhaddon, greeting! As soon as thou receivest\nthis letter, assemble the army, and go to the plain of the south, on\nthe 25th day of this month; and when thou shalt see me, range the\ntroops as if for battle, and come quickly towards me: for I have the\nambassadors of the king of Egypt with me, and I desire that they\nshould see the might of my army.\" This letter Nadan sent to me, and I\nbegan to make preparations as it commanded me. Thereafter Nadan took\nthe first letter, feigning to have found it in my chamber, and\nbrought it to king Esarhaddon. And when the king had read it, he was\nvery angry and said, \"O ye gods! what have I done to Ahikar that he\nshould seek to betray me thus?\" Nadan said, \"Perhaps, my lord, it is\na forgery; be not too soon disturbed; let us wait till the day\nappointed, and then go to the plain of the south; if Ahikar is not\nthere, we shall know that the letter is not his; but if he is there,\nand armed men with him, I fear that he must indeed be conspiring\nagainst thee.\" And the king consented.\n\nOn the twenty-fifth day of the month, therefore, the king and Nadan\nset forth and rode out to the plain of the south. And I, as I had\nbeen commanded, was there with the great army which I had gathered;\nand so soon as I saw the king and his train approaching, I drew up\nthe soldiers in battle array and marched quickly towards him, and the\nsoldiers waved their weapons and shouted, and there was a great\nnoise. Then the king was very sorely troubled, for he was sure that I\nhad rebelled against him. But Nadan said, \"Go back, my lord king, to\nthe palace; I will capture that evil old man and bring him before\nyou.\" And the king departed with his servants.\n\nBut Nadan rode up to me and said, \"All that you have done is right,\nand well performed; the king is greatly pleased with you, and desires\nthat you will send away the soldiers to their homes and come before\nhim alone to receive your reward.\" So we rode into the city, and he\nbrought me into the palace, where the king was seated on his throne,\nand all his servants about him; and I perceived that the king was in\ndispleasure, but I knew not why. Then he put into my hand the letter\nwhich was written in my name to the king of Persia, and said, \"Read\nthat letter.\" And when I had read it, my knees knocked against each\nother, and I was speechless; I sought for a word of wisdom, but I\nfound none. Nadan cried aloud, \"O wicked and foolish old man, come\nforth from the presence of the king; stretch out thy hands for the\ncords and thy feet for the fetters!\" And they bound me.\n\nThen the king Esarhaddon turned away his face from me and spoke to\nNabushemak, the chief of the executioners, who had been my friend,\nand said, \"Take Ahikar, smite off his head, and remove it a hundred\nells from his body.\" And I fell on my face and said, \"O king, live\nfor ever! It is thy will to slay me, yet I know that I have not\nsinned against thee. Now, my lord, I beseech thee, command that I may\nbe slain before the door of my own house, and that my body may be\ngiven to my wife to be buried.\" And the king gave commandment\naccordingly.\n\nNow as they were taking me to my house, I sent a messenger before me\nto my wife Ashfagni, who was a very wise woman. And she, when she\nheard what had happened, did not waste time in making lamentation,\nbut hastened and prepared refreshment for Nabushemak and for the\nslaves that were his helpers. She came forth to meet them, and\naccompanied them into the house, and set food and wine before them;\nand the slaves drank of the wine till they were drunken and fell into\na deep sleep, every one in his place.\n\nThen I said to Nabushemak, \"Do you remember how, when the father of\nthe king delivered you to me to be put to death, I spared you because\nI knew that you had not done that for which you were condemned; and\nhow, when the king learned that you were guiltless, he took you into\nfavour again, and rewarded me? Now I swear to you that I likewise\nhave not conspired against king Esarhaddon, but I have been falsely\naccused. Save me therefore; but lest the rumour should be spread\nabroad that I have not been put to death, do this. I have a prisoner\nin my house who is condemned justly to death. Take my clothes and put\nthem upon him, and smite off his head; behold, your servants are\ndrunken and will perceive nothing, and I will be in hiding until the\nday when the truth is made known.\"\n\nAnd Nabushemak was glad--for he was my friend--and agreed; and it was\ndone as I advised. The slaves took the prisoner and smote off his\nhead, perceiving nothing, and gave his body to be buried instead of\nme; and it was published throughout all Nineveh and Assyria that\nAhikar was dead.\n\nThen Nabushemak and my wife Ashfagni made a hiding-place in the\nground; it was four cubits long and three broad and five in height,\nand it was covered with a stone. There they hid me, and gave me bread\nand water to eat, secretly, and there I abode many days. But\nEsarhaddon was grieved in spirit, and said to Nadan, \"Go to the\nhouse of Ahikar and celebrate his funeral, for he was thy uncle, and\nserved me and my father faithfully for a long time.\" So Nadan came to\nmy house; but he did not celebrate my funeral. He gathered together\nstrange men and women, and feasted with them, and sang, and drank,\nand was drunken. He mocked at my wife Ashfagni, and as for my\nservants, who loved me and had been long in my house, he stripped\nthem and beat them and ill-treated them until I heard the voice of\ntheir weeping and crying in my hiding-place, and I prayed the Most\nHigh to deliver us and to reward Nadan according to his works.\n\n\nII\n\nNow when Pharaoh, king of Egypt, heard that I, Ahikar, was dead, he\nwas very glad; for he had always stood in awe of my wisdom. And he\nwrote a letter to Esarhaddon in these words: \"Pharaoh, king of Egypt,\nto Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, greeting! I desire to build a castle\nbetween heaven and earth. Send me therefore a wise man to whom I may\ncommit the business. If he accomplishes all that I require and\nanswers all my questions, I will send you by his hands the whole\nrevenue of Egypt for three years. But if you cannot send me such a\nman, then you must send to me, by my messenger, the whole revenue of\nAssyria for three years. And if not, I shall come against you and lay\nyour land desolate. And so farewell.\"\n\nWhen the letter was read before Esarhaddon, he called together his\nprinces and counsellors and wise men, and said to them, \"Which of you\nwill go to Egypt and answer the questions of Pharaoh?\" They said,\n\"Lord and king, in the time of your father it was Ahikar the scribe\nwho answered all hard questions and solved all difficulties; and\nbehold, now you have with you his sister's son Nadan, who has been\ninstructed in his wisdom and can do all that you require.\" So the\nking turned to Nadan and said, \"Will you go to Egypt and answer\nPharaoh?\" But Nadan said, \"It is folly! The gods themselves could\nnot build a castle between heaven and earth; how then should the\nchildren of men accomplish such a thing?\" When the king heard that,\nhe arose and came down from his throne, and threw himself on the\nground lamenting and saying, \"Alas, alas, I am undone. I have slain\nmy servant Ahikar at the word of a foolish boy, and there is none\nlike him left! Who can give him back to me?\"\n\nThen Nabushemak spoke and said, \"O king, live for ever. He that\ndisobeys the commandments of his master is worthy of death. Say\ntherefore the word, and let them hang me on a tree; for Ahikar, whom\nyou bade me slay, is not dead, but living!\" The king said, \"O\nNabushemak, if it be as you say, and if you can show me Ahikar alive,\nI will give you ten thousand talents of gold and a hundred robes of\npurple. Say on, therefore.\" Nabushemak said, \"One thing I ask of my\nlord: that he will not keep this my trespass in mind, nor store up\nwrath against me.\" And the king sware to him.\n\nNabushemak went forth immediately and mounted his chariot, and drove\nswiftly to my house. He uncovered the hiding-place and brought me\nforth, and took me up into his chariot and led me into the presence\nof the king. And when the king saw me, he wept; for I was in evil\nplight. My hair was grown over my shoulders, and my beard reached\ndown to my girdle; my body was foul with dirt, and my nails were as\nlong as eagles' claws; my eyes were dim from the darkness, and my\nlimbs were stiff so that I could scarcely walk. And the king said,\n\"O Ahikar, it is not I that have brought this misery upon you, but he\nwhom you have brought up as your own son.\" I answered, \"O king,\nsince mine eyes have looked upon you I have no more sorrow or pain.\"\nThe king said, \"Go to your house, bathe your body, and cut your\nhair; refresh yourself and take your rest for forty days; then come\nback to me.\" And I did so. But after twenty days I had recovered my\nstrength, and I went back to the king. Then he showed me the letter\nof the king of Egypt, saying, \"Behold, Ahikar, the burden which they\nwould lay upon me and upon my kingdom.\" And I answered, \"O king,\nlive for ever. Trouble not yourself, nor be disquieted about this\nmatter. I will go to Egypt and answer the hard questions; and I will\nbring back to you the revenues of Egypt for three years.\" So the king\nwas comforted; he rejoiced greatly, and made a feast, and gave me\nrich presents.\n\nImmediately after this, I began to make ready for my journey; and\nfirst I ordered my huntsmen to catch two young eagles alive. I also\nchose from among my servants two young boys whose names were Nabuchal\nand Tabshalom, and taught them to ride upon the backs of the eagles;\nand after a while the eagles became accustomed to bear them up in the\nair. I also taught them certain words which they should say at the\nappointed time, and practised them until they knew perfectly what\nthey had to do.\n\nAnd when all was prepared, I set forth with a great company and went\nto Egypt. It was told Pharaoh that an embassy was come from Nineveh,\nand he sent for me, and when I appeared before him he asked who I\nwas. And I answered, \"I am Abikam, one of the least of the servants\nof Esar-haddon.\" Pharaoh was displeased, and said, \"Am I then so much\ndespised by your master that he sends me the least of his servants?\"\nI said, \"My lord Esarhaddon is so far exalted above his servants that\nin his sight the great and the small are all alike.\" He said, \"Depart\nfrom my presence, and to-morrow come again to me.\"\n\nThen Pharaoh, who desired foolishly to make himself appear great in\nour eyes, arrayed himself in purple, and made his nobles put on\nscarlet and stand about him; and when I came into his presence he\nasked me to what I compared him. I said, \"My lord, you are like the\ngod Bel, and your nobles are like his priests.\" And in like manner on\nthe following days he dressed himself in various colours, and each\nday asked me what I should liken him to. And I said, \"To the sun\" on\none day, and \"To the moon\" on the next, and on the third day, \"To the\nspring and the flowers of it.\" And he was greatly pleased, and said,\n\"Abikam, you have compared me to the god Bel, and to the sun and the\nmoon and the spring; now tell me, to what do you liken your master\nEsarhaddon?\" I said, \"I cannot tell you, O king, until you have\nrisen from your throne.\" So Pharaoh stood up, and I said, \"My lord\nEsarhaddon is like the great God of Heaven in respect of you: He has\ndominion over the god Bel, He can forbid the sun to shine and the\nmoon to rise, and He can lay waste the spring and all the flowers\nthereof.\" Then Pharaoh was displeased and said, \"I adjure you by the\nlife of your lord Esarhaddon, tell me, what is your name, in very\ndeed?\" I answered, \"I am Ahikar the scribe, and the seal of\nEsarhaddon is in my keeping.\"\n\nPharaoh was troubled when he learned that I was yet alive, and he\nsent me away, saying, \"Tomorrow come to me and tell me a thing which\nneither I nor my nobles have ever heard.\" So I took thought, and\nwrote in the name of Pharaoh a bond in which it was said that he owed\nto my lord Esarhaddon nine hundred talents of gold. And next day I\nbrought it before Pharaoh; but before I had opened it the nobles\ncried out, saying, \"We know it of old, we know it well!\" Then said I,\n\"I thank you for acknowledging the debt.\" And I gave the paper to\nthe king, and he looked on it and said to them, \"What! Do you\nacknowledge that I owe nine hundred talents of gold to Esarhaddon?\"\nAnd they were confounded, and cried out again, \"No! no! we have never\nheard of any such thing.\" So I said, \"If it be so, I have done what\nyou required.\"\n\nBut Pharaoh said, \"It is enough: I have sent for you to build me a\ncastle between the earth and the heavens; even a thousand cubits above\nthe earth. Come forth into the plain to-morrow and accomplish this.\" And\nI said, \"Well, O king; and do you for your part bring masons and that\nwhich is necessary for building.\" So on the morrow a great multitude\nassembled to see how the matter would go. But I had my eagles and my\nboys in readiness; and when Pharaoh gave the word, I sent them up, the\nboys riding on the eagles; and when they were high up in the air, the\nboys called out, as I had taught them, \"Bring us mortar, lime, and\nstones: we are ready to begin the building!\" And the masons and all the\npeople were amazed, gaping at the boys. And I fell upon the masons and\nbeat them, saying, \"Why delay you? Make haste, give them what they ask\nfor,\" and such-like words, till they fled before me. And I said to\nPharaoh, \"If your people refuse to do their part, how can I do mine?\"\nAnd Pharaoh and his nobles murmured, but they could not think of any\nanswer. So Pharaoh said, \"It is enough; leave the matter of the castle;\nI have other questions to ask you.\"\n\nOn the morrow he called for me, and said, \"I saw a great pillar built\nof 8763 bricks, and about it are planted twelve cedars, and each has\nthirty branches, and on each branch are a black and a white mouse\nwhich gnaw it.\" I laughed and made answer, \"O king, there is not a\nchild in the land of Assyria who could not interpret this riddle. The\npillar is the year, the bricks are the hours, the cedars the months,\ntheir branches the days, and the black and white mice are the night\nand the day.\"\n\nPharaoh's face fell, and he said, \"Well. But now I command you to\nplait me a rope out of the sand.\" I answered, \"Let them bring me a\npattern out of your store-house, O king, that I may have it to copy.\"\nHe said, \"You trifle with me; and unless you plait me such a rope I\nwill not pay you the revenues of Egypt.\" I went aside therefore and\nconsidered; and knowing that the Egyptians were foolish, I thought\nupon a plan. I got a mass of sand and put it in a chest, and made it\nrun out through two pipes so that when the sun shone upon it, it\nappeared like the strands of a rope; and I called to the king, \"Let\nyour servants plait together the two strands of the rope which I have\nmade, and when they have done so I will make more.\" And again they\nwere dismayed, and could say nothing.\n\nLastly, Pharaoh showed me a millstone which was broken in two pieces,\nand said, \"Come, Ahikar, sew this together for me.\" But I took a\nsmall piece of a like stone, and said, \"O king, I have not my tools\nwith me; but command your shoemaker to cut me a thread out of this\npiece of stone, and I will sew the millstone together forthwith.\"\nThen Pharaoh laughed, and said, \"Well, Ahikar, it was on a good day\nfor your lord that you were born. Come, I will make you a feast, and\nafter that you shall return to your own land.\"\n\nSo after certain days I departed, taking with me the revenues of\nEgypt for three years, and also the nine hundred talents which I had\nmade Pharaoh acknowledge that he owed to my lord. And Esar-haddon\ncame forth to meet me; and when he heard what I had done, he made me\nsit down on his right hand, and said, \"Ahikar, ask what thou wilt and\nI will give it thee.\" Then I said, \"O king, live for ever! Two\nthings only will I require of thee: one, that thou wouldst do good\nunto Nabushemak, for it is by his means that I was saved alive; and\nthe other, that thou wouldst give me power over my sister's son\nNadan, and not require his life at my hand.\" And the king granted my\nrequest, and exalted Nabushemak to the first rank in his kingdom;\nbut Nadan he delivered into my hand.\n\nI took Nadan to the hall of my house, and set him with his feet in\nthe stocks, and a collar of iron about his neck, and iron bands upon\nhis hands; I fed him with bread and water, and chastised him with\nrods. And when I came in or out of my house I stood and reproached\nhim, speaking in parables and proverbs.\n\nNow these are some of the parables which I spake to Nadan:\n\n\"My son, thou art like one that shot an arrow into the heaven to slay\nGod: the arrow fell back upon him and pierced him.\"\n\n\"Thou art like one that saw his neighbour shivering with cold, and\ntook a vessel of cold water and poured it over him.\"\n\n\"Thou didst think to take my place after my death; but know that even\nif the tail of the pig grew seven cubits long, no man would mistake\nthe pig for a horse.\"\n\n\"Thou art like the trap that was set on a dunghill. The sparrow saw\nit and said, 'Brother, what dost thou here?' The trap answered, 'I\nam fasting and praying.' The sparrow said, 'And what is that piece\nof wood by thee?' The trap said, 'My staff upon which I lean when I\npray.' 'And what is that in thy mouth?' 'It is a little food for\nhungry wayfarers.' Then said the sparrow, 'I am hungry and a\nwayfarer.' 'Come hither then,' said the trap, 'and fear nothing.'\nBut when the sparrow came, the trap caught it by the head; and the\nsparrow said, 'If these be thy fastings and prayers, God will not\naccept thy fasting nor hearken to thy prayer.'\"\n\n\"Thou art like the pig that went to the bath along with the nobles;\nand when it had bathed and come forth, it saw a pool of mud, and went\nand rolled therein.\"\n\n\"Hearken: a serpent was sleeping on a thorn-bush, and a flood came\nand swept them both away. And a wolf saw them floating on the water,\nand said, 'There goes one evil upon another evil, and a third evil\ncarrying them off.' The serpent said, 'And dost thou bring back the\nkids and lambs to their mothers?' 'Nay,' said the wolf. The serpent\nsaid, 'I know not whether there is much to choose betwixt us.'\"\n\n\"Thou art like the mole that came up out of the ground to curse God\nbecause He had not given to it sharpness of sight; and the eagle saw\nit, and carried it off.\"\n\n\"When men say to the wolf, 'Get away from the flock,' he saith,\n'Nay, but the dust thereof is healing to mine eyes.' When they took\nhim to the school, the teacher said, 'Say A.' The wolf said,\n'Lamb.' 'Say B.' He answered, 'Kid.' Surely he spake of that which\nwas in his thoughts.\"\n\nAt last, after many days, Nadan besought me, saying, \"Have mercy on\nme, spare my life, and I will feed thy swine and keep thine asses,\nand be thy slave for ever.\"\n\nAnd I said, \"Thou art like the palm-tree which bare no dates, and the\nowner came to cut it down; and it said, 'Leave me this one year, and\nnext year I will bear melons.' But he said, 'Thou that hast not\nborne thine own fruit, how wilt thou bear one that is not thine?'\nNow, behold, I will say no more to thee, O Nadan; but let God, who\npreserved me alive, judge between thee and me.\"\n\nAnd forthwith judgment went forth against Nadan, and his body swelled\nup and burst, and he died. For it is written, \"He that diggeth a pit\nfor another shall fall into the midst of it himself.\"\n\nTHE END\n\n\nPrinted by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & Co. at Paul's Work, Edinburgh","title":"Old Testament legends : $b being stories out of some of the less-known apocryphal books of the Old Testament","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":36619}